Fateful Piano Recital
by SupahStarmon
Summary: One piano recital is all it takes for Riko's life to change.
1. Prologue

The nine girls from Aqours finished being idols and have gone to work on their future.

The first years had much more creative futures, if Riko was to describe it. Yoshiko was always an avid gamer, which everyone thought was nice to do but thought that Yoshiko should have a real main job. However, Yoshiko's competitiveness paid off and she was now sponsored by a big eSports team for her fighting game skills, especially with Street Fighter. She was also balancing this with college.

Ruby's path was in tandem with Hanamaru's. The latter was surprisingly a full-fledged idol. Who knew that the least outgoing person would be able to continue being an idol? It made sense since Hanamaru was in the choir club, so she had the most experience. But, it was surprising nonetheless. The young red-headed girl was along for the ride. Ruby thought that she would have to help Dia with the duties of the house, but was surprised when her parents told her that she could do anything she wanted. So, Ruby was drawn to be a seamstress. She was now alongside her best friend and making her costumes. And only the group and their families knew that Ruby and Hanamaru were dating, and they were both extremely happy.

Dia and Mari were finished with business school, and were both preparing for the future of the Kurosawa and Ohara family. The two girls were dating, and were afraid of telling their parents. However, the families were in full support of the relationship. They were happy that the girls were able to be happy, but they explained that they were also supportive of this relationship because the two families being bonded would help financially. They were reluctant at first, but the families assured them that they wouldn't pressure them. They did care about the family business, but what came first was their daughters' happiness.

Kanan's was much simpler. She had to take care of her father's shop, which was gaining a lot more business because of Kanan's Aqours fame. So, she went to the same business school as Dia and Mari to learn the ins and outs of being a shop owner. It would put less strain on her parents, and she found it a bit fun, especially as she was with her best friends. She didn't mind being the third wheel; she was happy that her two best friends were so happy.

You was a natural athletic girl, and she had many sports scholarships for her superb swimming. She was also good academically, so she was offered many different scholarships for many different schools. She took the one that was closest to her home, as she didn't want to be too far away from the sea she loves.

Chika didn't go to college immediately. She didn't have too much drive to head straight to college. So, she was helping around the inn. Like Kanan's dive shop, the inn has gotten a lot of publicity thanks to Chika's involvement in Aqours. So, having an extra hand helped the entire family. She soon found something that she wanted to do; be a school teacher. More specifically, a kindergarten teacher. She wasn't the brightest girl, even she knew that. But, if she put her mind to it, she felt like she could be a great teacher. She also liked dealing with kids, as she felt like her mind could help her understand the children. So, after a year of working at the inn, she went and started to go to teacher's college.

Riko was going to a college that focused more on arts. She had many different hobbies like cooking or drawing. She was excited for her drawing major. She liked to draw, and she had some ideas for a manga with how occupied she was with her fan fiction books. However, her love of the piano never died. So, she focused mostly on that. It was very enjoyable, as she was able to focus on music, something that never left her mind ever since Aqours was formed. She was also able to help Hanamaru compose songs for her idol career, and was getting paid a hefty amount. She liked the money, but she also enjoyed spending time with Hanamaru and Ruby. She was also able to go to many piano recitals, as the school she went to had many auditions for representatives of her school. She was luckily able to go to many, as her skills have improved significantly thanks to her schooling.

It was one of these recitals that Riko would have her life changed.

* * *

A/N: Another fic! This time, multi-chaptered instead of a one-shot! I'm working hard on the following chapters, as I have a good idea as to where I want this story to go.

Please follow and favourite if you like it, and leave short or (preferably) lengthy reviews with praises or criticisms. I want to keep learning about writing and how I can improve, so don't be afraid to be brutal. Just no blatant hatred. I want positivity, not some troll.

Thanks for Reading!


	2. Chapter 1

Riko was nervous. However, she was always nervous when she got to recitals. _'I thought that my nerves would have left me when I entered college. I guess not.'_

She had the television in her room on the recital. She was hearing the introductions for the judges, and she was happy that they were the same as normal.

However, there was one small bump.

"And as a special treat for this piano recital, we have a special guest judge." The MC said.

' _Event judge? I never heard about that. Well, it's just another person in the audience. Remember that, Riko. Don't let it psyche you out.'_

"Since we are in Akihabara, we have a native that is skilled in piano playing. She in a doctor at the Nishikino hospital, which just so happens to be her last name. She was a former idol, being one of the members of the popular group Muse."

Riko was shocked to hear that. _'M-Muse? Piano player…it can't be.'_

"Please give a warm welcome to Nishikino Maki."

The spotlight was shone on the red-headed doctor as applause was heard from the whole crowd. She was smiling and waving at the camera in front of her.

Riko couldn't believe it. _'M-Maki-senpai…is going…to judge…my piano playing?!'_ The girl was freaking out.

She knew of Chika and Ruby's love of Muse, and borderline obsession for Dia. Riko found them appealing enough to like their music and be somewhat inspired to be in Aqours, but one member caught her attention. The judge of her recital, Nishikino Maki.

She was impressed that a first year could create such beautiful compositions at such a young age. It's part of the reasons why she wanted Aqours' music to sound perfect, as Maki's were always amazing.

So, playing the piano for her idol was worrying, to say the least.

The red-head slapped her cheeks. _'Riko, get a hold of yourself! She may be amazing, but you have other priorities! If you want to even think about getting anywhere, you have to nail this recital.'_ Riko had a determined look. She wanted to impress herself, and maybe impress Maki.

…

And she did. She got her second first place win, and she knew that all of the judges were impressed with her playing. Even Maki.

She wanted a chance to meet Maki, but she knew she was getting her hopes up.

So, she must have been the luckiest girl in the world to accidentally bump into the doctor.

She was leaving the auditorium when she collided with the red-headed doctor.

"I'm sorry…Nishikino-senpai?!" Riko freaked out.

Maki giggled, which was music to Riko's ears. "Sorry about that. You are Sakurauchi-chan, right? You won the competition?"

"Y-Yes!" Riko stood up and quickly bowed to the older girl. "Thank you for choosing me to win!"

Maki got up and put a hand out. "It's no problem. You were very good."

Riko took the hand and shook it. "Thank you, Nishikino-senpai!"

The two released their hands, and Riko was furiously blushing. "Again, you were very good. You deserve the win. To be honest, you seem familiar."

' _Should I tell her? If she doesn't know me, I'll be so embarrassed! But…Maybe she'll know.'_ Riko cleared her throat. "I…I was a part of an idol group."

Maki took a bit to think, but she realized it quickly. "Oh! Aqours, right? You had nine girls in it."

"Y-You knew us?!" Riko asked.

"Yeah, you were pretty popular when I was still keeping up with the idol world. Well, I still am. There are some of my friends who are still idols."

"Oh!" Riko piped up. "Nico-senpai and Honoka-senpai! I've seen them perform, they are really good."

"Yeah, I'm happy that those two are still making people happy in their own way." Maki told Riko. "I still keep in touch with them, I get to compose their songs since they're a duo."

"That's the same for me," Riko told the older woman. "My friend Hanamaru-chan is also an idol. She has her…friend, Ruby-chan with her making the costumes." Riko almost spilled that Hanamaru and Ruby were dating, which should not be known in the idol world. Having Maki, someone who is in the idol industry, know that her friends are dating would not be ideal.

"Wow, that must be nice. I can't remember her. She must be out of college." Maki theorized.

"No, she's younger than I am, and I'm in my second year of college." Riko explained.

"W-What?" Maki was surprised that someone so talented was so young. "Only second year? That's impressive."

The praise brought a blush to Riko's cheeks. "T-Thank you."

"No problem." Maki looked at her watch. "Shoot! I'm running late!" Maki started to run out of the auditorium.

"N-Nishikino-senpai!" Riko called out, stopping the older girl in her tracks. "Can…Can I get a picture with you?" Riko asked as she was blushing.

"Huh? A picture?" Maki asked, getting a nod in response. "Umm, sure."

"Uh…is it okay if I show my friends? They're kind of fans of you guys as well." Riko asked nervously.

Maki chuckled. "Sure, that's alright. Just tell them not to ambush me at the hospital," Maki joked with the younger girl. They both laughed, but Riko seemed really nervous. "Hey, are you alright? You seem a bit tense."

"It's…It's just that…you were my favourite from Muse. So, meeting you is like a dream of mine." Riko told Maki with a blush on her cheeks.

"Aww, thanks. It's nice to hear that I have fans. Now, let's take that picture. I have to go. Sorry to rush you."

"I-It's okay. I shouldn't be holding you up right now."

"Nonsense!" Maki said, a bit too loud. "It's alright."

Riko got her phone out and prepared the picture. She was surprised when Maki slung an arm around her shoulder, but it wasn't unwelcomed.

"It was nice meeting you, Nishikino-senpai!" Riko bowed. She started to leave, but Maki stopped her.

"I agree. Here, pass me your phone." Riko did as she was asked, and Maki started to type into the phone. Handing it back, she said, "I put my number in. Maybe, we can talk." Maki smiled, and Riko smiled back at her.

"T-Thanks, Nishikino-senpai!" Riko said.

"Uh-uh." Maki pointed to the phone. "Call me Maki, Riko-chan."

The blush that never left was still staining Riko's face. "Y-Yes, Nish…Maki-senpai!"

"See you later, Riko-chan." Maki left and Riko was left standing in the middle of the room, speechless.

"W-What just happened?"


	3. Chapter 2

This story also is focused on Nishikino Maki.

Nishikino Maki, 24-year-old doctor from a wealthy family…

Flirting with a college girl?!

"What's wrong with me? I need to be an example for my family and I'm going around flirting with younger girls!" Maki groaned as she put her head on the coffee table.

She, Eli, and Nozomi were hanging out at the local café, a few minutes from the Nishikino hospital. She needed someone to talk to about her antics from last night, and she felt like her two seniors were the best people to discuss it with.

"My, my, Maki-chan. Quite the tease, aren't you?" Nozomi grinned as she rested her chin on her hands.

Maybe, Nozomi wasn't the right person. At least she knew that Eli was.

"Nozomi, stop making fun of her. Maki is dealing with a crisis right now." Eli lightly slapped Nozomi's arm, getting a playful pout from the curvaceous girl. "Now, just explain what happened to you. You seem nervous about it."

"A-Alright." Maki took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves down. "I was judging at the piano recital and the winner of it bumped into me. We were talking about the recital when I found out she was in Aqours and also that she was a fan of me. One of her friends is an idol as well, so maybe she met Nico and Honoka. Then we took a picture, which I kinda wrapped my arm around her. And then I put in my contact information and told her to call me Maki." As soon as she finished the story, she slammed her head on the table. "I'm so awful!"

"Hey, you aren't awful." Eli assured her friend. "You're still young and single, it's natural to be like that."

"I-I guess you're right."

"But Maki-chan? As a flirt? I never could picture it." Nozomi told the two girls. "You were always the tsundere-type of girl. What made you so affectionate yesterday?"

Maki comprehended Nozomi's question. And she groaned again and slammed her head on the table. "I don't know!"

"Nozomi, you're making things worse. Maki's already feeling bad." Eli scolded her girlfriend.

"Sorry, Elichi. Just speaking the truth." Nozomi put her hands up, defending herself.

"But, Nozomi has a point. There's not really any reason for Maki to be like that. Is it okay if we see her?" Eli asked.

Maki tilted her head up and darted her eyes between the two girls. "I guess. Let me text her, I need the picture."

Maki pulled out her phone and started to text Riko.

Maki:  
 _Hey, could you send over the picture with me and you in it?  
And can I show my friends?_

Maki placed her phone on the table, just waiting for the text to come.

"Well, while we wait for her to reject me...Let's talk. How's have you been? It seems like forever since we last talked." Maki asked.

"We've been great!" Eli told the red-head. "We've been getting even more customers, but I have no idea why."

"Well, your food is delicious." Maki said, a bit of drool leaking from her mouth.

"Heh, you're leaking a bit. Our food is literally mouth-watering." Nozomi said, and giggled when Maki embarrassedly wiped her mouth.

When Eli and Nozomi graduated, they really grew attached to cooking. So, the two girls headed for culinary school. Nozomi was drawn to the savoury side of cooking, while Eli was the sweets girl. They decided to open a diner after finishing culinary school. They were instantly a hit amongst the Akihabara crowd (half because they were former idols, and maybe because they were cute girls that could cook. Explains the decent sized male fanbase, but not the major female one. Maybe it was them being from Muse…but that could also explain the male fanbase…). They were scared that the two of them couldn't handle everything, but Arisa was willing to help out. As they were getting better at running the restaurant, they had a lot of meetings with the former Muse members and cooked for them.

"Whatever." The phone vibrated, and Maki picked it up. Looking at her texts, it was from Riko.

Riko:  
 _Yeah, I'll send the photo over now!  
And of course you can show your friends, I asked that too._

Maki smiled at how cute the red-head sounded in just her texts.

"Eww, Maki-chan is being cute." Nozomi teased, earning a glare from both Maki and Eli. "I'm joking, ehe."

Maki sighed. "Could you not be…yourself, for once?"

"Ow, Maki-chan. That was mean." Nozomi said, but it was obvious that she was faking it.

"Well, is it okay if we see the girl?" Eli asked. Maki nodded and brought up the picture of the two red-heads.

"Wow, she's really cute! No wonder Maki-chan tried to seduce her." Nozomi grinned.

"S-Shut up!" Maki stuck her tongue out at the purple-haired girl. "But yes, she is really cute. That's why I kinda flirted with her."

"Maki, you know that looks aren't the only thing." Eli said, getting an exasperated sigh from the red-head. "Did you look at her? She's blushing like crazy in that photo."

Looking at it again, Maki saw the red on Riko's cheeks. "So what?"

"She must want to hang out more. Maybe you'll find something in common."

"Well, I already know that she composed everything for Aqours like I did for us." Maki smirked, already having a 1-up over her two seniors.

"Why do you look so smug? You only know that she plays the piano well. That's no reason to fall in love with her." Nozomi said.

"I'm not in love with her!" Maki said. "I think she is a nice girl. But, is it okay? I'm 24 and she's at least 19. Doesn't that seem wrong?"

"Maybe," Eli said, "But it's not the worst thing in the world. You could have a crush on much worse people. She does seem nice."

"You should ask her out!" Nozomi proposed. "Just have a small date-like thing. Maybe you'll like each other enough."

Maki blushed at the thought of going on a date with Riko. She felt self-conscious about going out with a younger girl and one that seemed so innocent. But…she couldn't help but want to try it.

"You know what, I'll try it. I need some sort of stress relief from working, and maybe Riko might be the good one."

"Whoa, stop right there." Eli put a hand out. "Stress relief? This is a person we're talking about, Maki. You can't treat her as a way to escape."

"W-What? I wasn't think like that! I know, I never meant it to sound like that. It's just…it's nice to just go out and enjoy myself, be it alone or with another person. I'm going to treat her right, she seems too good to not deserve the best."

"That's the good way to think." Nozomi stuck a thumb out. "You just have to have fun, and just treat each other right."

"Yeah, treat each other right." Maki said quietly, smile plastered on her face. _'I hope that Riko will want to do this.'_

* * *

Maki:  
 _Hey, would you want to hang out on Saturday?_

Riko's brain almost short-circuited from seeing this pop up in her text messages.

' _M-Maki-senpai…w-wants to hang out with me?!'_

But why? Riko is just a plain college girl who just so happens to be good on the piano. Maki is an accomplished idol from one of the most popular groups of Love Live, a fantastic composer, and a highly acclaimed doctor.

' _What would she want with me?_

' _I guess I could take it. Be around my favourite member from Muse. It's just…weird.'_

Riko had short classes on Mondays, so she always made plans with Hanamaru and Ruby.

' _I guess I could ask them. Maybe they'll know what to do.'_

…

"Hello, Riko-chan!" Ruby gleefully greeted her at the door. They met at Riko's apartment. Hanamaru was good at blending in with crowds, despite how popular she was. To be inconspicuous with Ruby around, they decided to always meet at Riko's small home.

"Hi Ruby-chan, Hanamaru-chan. Please, come in."

The three girls gathered in the living room and sat on the couch. Ruby and Hanamaru were holding hands and snuggled into each other.

"Aww, you guys get cuter every time we meet up," Riko said.

"Thanks, Riko-chan," Hanamaru replied.

"Well, what's up? Are we planning a new song?" Riko asked.

"Not today, Maru said that she's going to keep her tour up. She has two weeks to rest, starting today." Ruby explained.

"That sounds nice," Riko said. "Well, how have you been?"

"We've been well, zura." Hanamaru said. "Ruby has gotten me into knitting, and I've been trying to knit a scarf. But that's boring, how about you, zura?"

"Well, I got first place in the Akihabara piano recital."

"Oh, I heard about that!" Ruby exclaimed. "You had Maki-chan as a special guest! That must have been so cool!"

"Y-Yeah, I guess you can say that…" Riko's mind was drifting away. _'Since Ruby said it…I might as well say something about it.'_ Riko cleared her throat. "I…uh…wanted to ask you guys something."

"You seem nervous about this," Hanamaru commented. "What's wrong, zura?"

"At that recital…" Riko couldn't say, _"I met Maki-senpai."_ Why couldn't she, she had no idea. But, she did need to do something. So, she brought out her phone and showed them the picture of her and Maki.

"What is it, zura? It's just you an-"

"MAKI-CHAN!" Ruby surprisingly exclaimed, almost making Riko drop her phone.

"Shhh, Ruby-chan!" Riko put a finger to her lips. "Yes, I bumped into her when I was leaving…the auditorium…Hanamaru-chan, what are you doing?" Riko noticed that the girl had her phone to her ear.

"Nothing, zura. I'm listening, just keep explaining." Hanamaru assured her friend.

"Okay…" Riko was a bit suspicious, but she kept telling her story. "She was really nice, and I got to take a picture with her. When we were leaving, she put her contact information onto my phone. Now, she's asking me if she wants to hang out on Saturday. And I don't know what to do."

"That sounds cool!" Ruby said in awe. "Why don't you take her offer? If she's inviting you, she must have found you interesting enough to be around."

"B-But wouldn't I be interrupting her work schedule? I would just be bothering her, and then I'll feel bad. And then she wouldn't want to go again, and I lost my chance to be with my idol-"

"Jeez, is she going to keep rambling?" A new voice was heard, confusing Riko.

"Who the hell was that?" Riko was looking at the two girls, very unsure about how to feel right now.

"Oops, I pressed the wrong button. I'm going to put you on video chat, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. It's fine, Hanamaru-chan."

She pressed the button, and her phone showed two girls on the screen. Immediately, Riko knew who they were.

"Nico-chan?! Honoka-chan?!"

"In the…well, video flesh." Nico said. "So, you're the girl that caught Maki's eye. You are pretty cute."

"T-Thank you, Ni- Yazawa-sen-"

"Oh my god, just call us by our names." Nico was getting irritated with how prim and proper Riko was being. "You have to loosen up."

"It's okay, Riko-chan. Nico is just a bit grumpy today." Honoka apologized. "I heard about you from Hanamaru-chan, but it's nice to see your face! You are cute!"

"Heh, thank you, Honoka-senpai." Riko blushed at the compliments she was getting. "Hanamaru-chan, why did you call them?"

"Well, they know Maki-chan. So, maybe they'll know what to do, zura."

"And Ruby-chan? You aren't freaking out?"

"No, I've met Nico-chan and Honoka-chan before. Since Maru-chan and them are in the same idol company, I was able to meet them when I was with Maru-chan. Hi Honoka-chan! Nico-chan!"

"Hi Ruby-chan!" Honoka gleefully greeted the twin-tailed girl. "Riko-chan, I think you should go out with Maki-chan."

"G-Go out?!"

Nico sighed. "Not like that. Just go with Maki-chan and hang out with her. You can "go out" with her when you actually become a thing."

"W-What makes you think she actually would want to date me?" Riko asked, still contemplating about this get-together.

"Eli texted me. She was raving over you." Nico said. She looked away sheepishly and started to scratch her cheek. "M-Maybe I said to much." Everyone noticed how hard Riko was blushing, just from hearing that Maki was saying nice things about her. "My god, have some confidence in yourself! Maki thinks you are cute, which you are. You both play the piano. Just try it, there's no harm with going out with her."

"O…Okay!" Riko pulled out her phone triumphantly. "I will tell her okay!"

"Hooray!" Honoka clapped.

"Okay, thanks girls. I'll talk to you later, zura." The five girls said goodbye and Hanamaru hung up the phone. "So, tell her, Riko-chan!"

"Yeah!" Riko pulled up Maki's texts and started to type.

' _I hope she'll like being around me. Because I know I will.'_

Riko:  
 _I would love to._


	4. Chapter 3

The week flew by for the two red-headed women. And both were experiencing two different types of nervousness.

Maki's mind was plagued with how she was acting. _'Am I taking advantage of Riko? She's such a nice girl, and I don't want to hurt her. But…is it just because I'm lonely? Because I'm stressed? I do admit that I get tired because of all of this work. But, am I really going to treat Riko like just a way to relieve myself? I wouldn't want that…but I'm scared that it could happen.'_

Riko's thoughts were about her being not enough. _'I know that Maki asked me to hang out…but just an ordinary girl like me? She must have other friends. Hell, she was part of Muse. She should be with them. I'm just going to be a bother to her, and I might even distract her from her work? Making this plan was a mistake…but I can't help but want to be closer with her. It's selfish, but I want to be with her.'_

Their thoughts wouldn't make time stop, and Saturday came quickly.

* * *

They decided to meet up at the local coffee shop close to the Nishikino hospital. Maki was the first to arrive; she was able to get the rest of the day off, leaving quite a bit of time to be with Riko.

Maki was at a table close to the entrance, slowly sipping her cup of coffee. _'I know I was worrying about this, but I have to admit that I am excited for this…is it a date?'_

Maki couldn't ponder on that for too long as the girl in question emerged from the entrance. Maki motioned the girl over, who quickly took a seat across from her.

"Hello, Maki-senpai." Riko slightly bowed, but was struggling to contain her emotions.

"Hey there, Riko-chan." Maki replied coolly. "How was school today?"

"Umm…I didn't have any classes. It's Saturday."

' _Great way to start this off. Smooth, Maki. Smooth.'_

"R-Right." Maki tried to play that embarrassing moment off by coughing, but she already knew that she was too embarrassed to recover. She could hear small laughs coming from the other girl. "No need to laugh at me!"

"S-Sorry, Maki-senpai. You just seem a bit nervous. I was nervous for this…get together for the entire week." Riko wasn't sure she could say this was a date (despite how much she hoped it would be), so she used "get together" to be subtle.

"Well, we're both here. What do you want to do?" The doctor asked.

"Is it okay to take a stroll in the park? Just to talk about ourselves?" Riko nervously asked.

"Sure, that sounds nice." Maki smiled.

The two girls walked out of the coffee shop and headed for the park.

"Maki-senpai, what made you want to be a doctor?"

The red-head smiled at Riko's innocent question. "Well, I think you know that my parents own the hospital. So, I guess I was expected to keep it going. I didn't mind being a doctor, but it felt like I was being pressured by my parents. So, I still did well in school, but I was loving being an idol. Once Muse disbanded, I focused more and realized that being a doctor is kind of like being an idol."

"How did you figure that out? Idol are there to entertain and make people happy."

"But you can see that for doctors as well. We don't entertain per se, but we do make people happy. When someone is able to live and to be with their families…" Maki had to wipe away a tear. Just thinking about all the lives she saved…it's breathtaking. "We see them smile and be happy, just like idols do."

"That…That is amazing to think about." Riko said.

"It is."

The two were still walking, a comfortable silence shrouded the two of them.

"Hey, Riko-chan." Maki said, catching the attention of the college girl. "I'm curious about your friends. I know about Hanamaru-chan being an idol. And she has Ruby-chan as her seamstress. I want to know about your other friends."

"R-Really?" Maki nodded. "Sure! Let me ask Hanamaru-chan something."

Receiving another nod, Riko pulled out her phone and texted Hanamaru.

Riko:  
 _Can I tell Maki-senpai that you and Ruby-chan are dating?_

The response was immediate.

Hanamaru:  
 _Sure!_

Riko:  
 _Thanks!_

Riko sighed. "Well, Hanamaru-chan and Ruby-chan are dating. Just…don't tell anyone!"

Maki looked at the girl with a puzzled look. "Why not?"

"Huh? Idols aren't supposed to be dating anyone, or at least not have it in public. Right?"

"You must be living in the past, my friend." Maki giggled. "With all of the fans shipping girls together, the idol industry just decided to let idols be free with who they date and let it be public knowledge. Have you not been paying attention to the obvious displays of affection?"

"To be honest, I only pay attention to Hanamaru-chan, Nico-senpai, and Honoka-senpai."

"When A-RISE is in Akihabara again, and they have a show, I'll bring you to one. You'll see how flirty Anju and Erena are. And besides, a lot of people know that Nico and Rin are dating. As are Honoka and Umi."

"Really? I…have seen that…" Riko wanted to die. Embarrassing herself in front of Maki only made her obvious blush bloom. She remembered reading a magazine with an interview from Nico and Honoka. "I read about it…"

"Now, now. No need to be embarrassed. Everyone makes mistakes. Now, can we talk about your Aqours friends?"

Riko laughed. "You're really eager to know about them. Alright, I will. As long as you tell me about Muse."

The other red-head laughed. "You got me. Alright, deal."

They got to the park as they had their agreement, so they started to walk steadily on the path.

"Just like you guys, we had three girls from each grade. My juniors were Hanamaru-chan, Ruby-chan, and Yoshiko-chan."

"Didn't she always call herself Yohane?"

Riko laughed at that. "Yeah, she was always like that. She was…addicted…to video games, I guess. But, she's now a professional Street Fighter player."

"Wow, just from playing video games, she got a career from that?" Maki said in amazement.

"Yeah, I didn't believe it either. You already know about Ruby-chan and Hanamaru-chan. Speaking of which, Ruby's sister and her girlfriend are from the Kurosawa and Ohara families, respectively. So, they're business people. Their friend is also working at her father's diving shop after she finishes her business degree. You-chan is an athlete at one of the more popular universities, and Chika-chan is starting her year for teaching."

"Wow, you guys had your lives set. And you're…"

"I'm just in an arts school. I'm continuing piano playing, and I dabble in cooking or drawing."

"Sounds fun. I want to see your drawings later." Maki said.

Riko was flustered that Maki wanted to hang out again (at least, she inferred). "Alright, those are my friends. How about yours?"

"I wasn't going to leave you hanging, don't worry." The older girl laughed as Riko pouted. "Hanayo and Kotori are dating. They should be studying fashion in America, so I haven't seen them for a while. Umi and Rin are working at the dojo. They like to stay there so that they can be close to their girlfriends, who are obviously still idols. And Eli and Nozomi-"

Maki's phone went off. She pulled it out and saw that it was Eli calling her. "I just need to tell Eli to not interrupt us, sorry." She was looking at Riko, puzzled as to why she was blushing and quiet. But, she picked it up as soon as she saw the nervous nod.

"Eli, I'm with Riko-chan right now. Why are you calling?"

"Oh, two girls in love! Isn't it nice, Maki-chan?"

She whispered into her phone, not wanting to worry Riko. "Shut up, Nozomi!"

"Ignore her. I just wanted to invite you two to the diner. We're going to close up a bit early today, but we wanted you guys to have a nice meal." Eli suggested.

"For real? Are you sure?"

"Of course, you're our friend." Eli said. "Just bring your friend along and we'll have a nice table for you."

"Thanks, Eli."

Maki could feel the smile on Eli's face. "No problem."

As she was about to hang up, she heard Nozomi's voice. "You still have to pay for you and your date!"

Maki sighed as she hung up the phone. "Sorry about that."

Riko only nodded her head.

"Hey, Riko-chan. What's up?"

The nervous girl raised her hand up. Well, raised **their** hands up; the pair's fingers were interlocked.

"Wha…I…" Maki was fumbling over her words to spit out an apology. "I'm sorry!" She retracted the hand and tried to bury her hand that was holding Riko's.

However, Riko reached for it and grasped it again.

"Is it okay…if we stay like this?"

Maki's heart was pounding and she was blushing furiously. _'She's so cute!'_

"A-Are you sure you want to stay like this? I mean, it was just an accident. I never meant to-"

"Yes, I do. Is it okay?" Riko timidly asked again.

Maki felt her heart melt at the cuteness Riko was putting on display. "I-I guess it's okay."

The two stayed in a comfortable silence, only interrupted by Maki's request. "You…You want to go eat? Eli said that they'll serve us, if that's okay."

Riko smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

The two walked the short distance to the restaurant, hands still intertwined with each other.

…

"Hello!" Eli and Nozomi called out from the kitchen when the door opened. "Ah, Maki! Just in time!"

"Hi, Maki-chan!" Arisa cheerily greeted the red-head. "A table for two?" The young blonde saw Riko and felt like she had seen her before, but she couldn't figure it out.

"Yes, please." Maki giggled at Arisa's stares. "And Riko-chan was from Aqours."

"Ahh! That's where I've seen her before! Hello, Riko-chan!"

Riko nervously giggled. _'I'm just a stranger to these people, while they seem so comfortable. It's unnerving, to say the least.'_ She bowed to the blonde waitress. "Hello, Arisa-senpai!"

The blonde giggled. "Let's get you a seat."

The restaurant was basically empty, just a couple of customers left, but they already had their food. So, it was only Riko and Maki who had to get their orders.

"Hello lovebirds!" Nozomi gleefully said, causing both red-heads to blush.

"Nozomi! Are you always going to be like that?" Maki asked, her tone was irritated.

"Sorry, Maki-chan! You know how I am." The purple-haired girl smiled and looked at Riko. "Hi there, Riko-chan!"

"H-Hello, Nozomi-senpai." Riko was very nervous, and the purple-haired girl teasing about their relationship wasn't helping.

"So, you're the girl that Maki wa-"

"Honey, you have to go cook for them." Eli surprised the teasing woman. Her expression was terrifying, and Nozomi didn't think she would be on the end of it. At least, not that often.

"Yes!" Nozomi quickly ran to the kitchen and started prepping the food.

Eli sighed. "Sorry about her, she's always like that."

"Oh, trust me. I know." Maki said with a pout on her face. Riko just laughed nervously.

"Anyways, you're here now. How about some food for you guys? What would you like, Riko-chan?" Eli brought out her notepad, pen ready to jot down the order.

Riko scanned through the menu, looking specifically for the sandwich section. One caught her eye, and her mouth started watering.

"I'll have the beef and fried egg sandwich, please!"

Eli giggled at how eager Riko was to have the sandwich. "And the regular for Maki?"

"Of course."

"Okay, I'll get you drinks. Anything in particular?"

Riko spoke first. "I'll just take a Coke."

"And I'll have some beer."

Eli smiled, and wanted to tease the two girls before she served them. "Alright, I'll get the drinks. Make sure you take care of Maki, Riko-chan." The blonde smirked and winked at the table before she left.

"God! Why are my friends so annoying?" Maki complained.

"It's okay, friends tease us all the time." Riko smiled. _'To be honest, I would love to take care of Maki-chan.'_

"Well, it's still annoying." _'Since I'm feeling something towards you. Eli making fun of that isn't helping.'_

Before the two of them were under an uncomfortable silence, Eli came out with their drinks. "Here ya go, girls! I'll get your food out soon." The blonde turned around and started to walk back to the kitchen.

"Wow, Eli-senpai is so graceful." Riko said in awe. She was startled by the empty beer mug being slammed on the table.

"Who cares about that?! You should be complimenting me! I'm your date!" Maki was clearly drunk, as she wouldn't be so blunt about calling this a date. Hearing those words brought a blush to Riko's face.

"D-Date?"

"Well…hic…it's me and you, alone, at a table. What else could it be?!"

Before Riko could…well, not respond, Eli was coming with their food.

"Someone's a little tipsy, aren't they?" Eli smiled as she set down the food. "Riko's beef and egg sandwich, and a spaghetti Neapolitan."

"S-Shut up, blondie." Maki groggily said.

"Umm, Eli-senpai." Riko motioned the blonde to whisper in her ear. "Does Maki always get drunk after just one beer?"

"Yeah, and it takes a while for her to sober up. Don't worry about her, I'll just serve her root beer. She always falls for that." Eli patted Maki on the shoulder. "She'll be fine. Just…help her out, okay?"

"Stop flirting with Elichika, I'm your date!" Maki whined.

Eli laughed. "She's all yours, princess." Maki stuck her tongue out at the blonde as Eli left the two alone.

"Are you okay, Maki-senpai?" Riko asked.

"No, because I'm DAMN hungry!" Maki exclaimed. Riko softly laughed at Maki's drunk behaviour. The girls started to eat their food, loving every bite.

"Wow, this sandwich is delicious!" Riko happily said. She was happily humming and enjoying the sandwich. She had her eyes closed, but she decided to open them. She was feeling confused, embarrassed, and surprised when she saw Maki leaning over and attempting to take a bite from her sandwich. "M-Maki-senpai?"

"What? It does look good. Can I, Riko-chan?" Maki cooed.

"H-How could I say no?" Riko nervously said. Maki proceeded to take a bite from the sandwich, savouring the taste. Riko peered into the kitchen and saw Nozomi sticking her thumbs out with a goofy smile on her lips. The younger red-head started to blush.

Eli came back with a beer mug filled with the root beer. "Aww, you two are looking cute. Here, Maki."

"Thank you, Elichika." Maki took a healthy swig of the root beer. "Ahh! It's that tasty sweet beer."

"Always the best for our friends." Eli smiled and winked at Riko. "I'll be back if you want dessert."

The blonde walked away. When Riko turned her attention to the table, she saw a forkful of spaghetti in front of her.

"Huh? M-Maki-chan?" Riko asked nervously.

"I want you to taste it! It's freaking amazing!" Maki enthusiastically said.

"Is it okay to take it from-"

"It's not going to be here for long. Eat it already!" Maki was moving the fork around, wanting Riko to take a bite.

"Al-Alright, then…" Riko took the bite from the fork. She savoured the tastes; one of delicious food, and one of Maki's indirect kiss. _'Man, I am weird.'_

"It's amazing, right?!" Maki was drifting to sleep.

"Yeah, it's good. A-Are you tired, Maki-senpai?"

"M-Maybe…" Her eyes were struggling to keep open, and her head was dropping down.

"Umm, Arisa-senpai! We'll take the check!"

Arisa came over, but she had a smile on her face. "It's okay, Riko-chan! This was for you two to have fun. Don't worry about the cost."

"Really? Are you sure? Because I can-"

Eli started to walk over. "It's fine, Riko-chan. We're friends, and it's okay to treat them once in a while. Maki will probably sober up when she wakes up, so don't worry about that. Just take her to your apartment and let her relax there."

"And let her regret her actions when she wakes up!" Nozomi walked out of the kitchen and went to the group of women. "She always does."

"I guess Nozomi is right. Whenever Maki gets drunk and she sobers up, she usually remembers what happened. I don't know how she does it, but that's how she works. You'll be fine." Eli explained.

"Alright. Thank you, senpais!" Riko stood up and bowed.

"Don't worry about it." Eli said.

"Just take care of her, I can see how much you like each other." Nozomi said. It sounded like teasing, but Riko had a feeling that Nozomi knew what they were feeling.

"Yes!"


	5. Chapter 4

"Okay, Maki-chan. We're going to my apartment, okay?"

"Why not?!" It was very clear that Maki was still drunk, as her speech was slurred. It sounded like she was getting sober, but she was tipsy.

Riko giggled at the cute, drunk girl. "Alright, let me help you into the car." Luckily, the hospital and restaurant were close by, and Riko's car was at the hospital. Riko was blushing as she was guiding Maki by holding her hand. But, she kept herself in line as she helped Maki into the car.

The two were driving along. Maki was dozing off, so she wasn't being too much of a handful. Riko, however, was letting her mind be filled with anxiety.

' _I can't believe I'm taking Maki-senpai to my home! I know she's drunk, but maybe I should have taken her to her home. But, I can't just leave her in her drunken state…Whatever, Riko. You've done the deed, and you just have to take care of her.'_

The two got to the apartment, and Riko was guiding the other red-head to the entrance. Once they got in the apartment, Riko rested Maki on the small couch. She looked up some hangover cures. She had a good idea of what to make, since she always took care of Chika, Mari, and You after they went out.

As she was finishing up the cure, Maki was stirring. "Hey there."

The red-head rubbed her eye, and still looked groggy. "Hi…I can only assume that we went drinking."

"More like, you went drinking. I was only drinking Coke. I learned that you get drunk from just one beer."

"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up." Maki grumbled. "Where are we, anyways?"

"My home. I didn't want to leave you alone in your house, so I brought you here. I'm just making something to get rid of your hangover."

"Thanks." Maki stood up. "Although, I'm not feeling that bad. How was I while I was drunk?"

"Not as bad as I thought."

Maki was standing in silence, thinking about their small 'date.'

"Eli-senpai said that you remember what happened whenever you were drunk."

"Yeah, it's coming back to me."

The scenes were replaying in Maki's mind. Taking a bite of Riko's sandwich, feeding some of her spaghetti to the girl. _'God damn it, two indirect kisses?!'_

"I'm so sorry about what I did. I was drunk, I never meant to do any of that!" Maki was in a panicked state, but snapped out of it when she heard small giggles.

"Maki-senpai, it's okay. I enjoyed our…date." The two girls blushed after Riko said 'date,' but they both were happy because they are able to acknowledge it as a date.

"That's…That's good." The silence was deafening, both girls too nervous to talk to each other. "C-Can I…look around your h-house?"

"Alright…" Riko was basically done with Maki's hangover cure, but her legs felt like they were glued to where she was standing. _'I…I really said that…So embarrassing!'_

Maki wandered around the living room, thoughts of her now-called date swirling in her mind. With the small part of her mind not occupied with her date, she observed the clean room. It was plain, with just a couch, a dining table, a television, and a small table in front of the couch. Said table was very clean, with only some papers scattered about. She picked up one of the papers and saw relatively rough sketches of manga panels.

"These are nice," Maki commented.

"R-Really? Those are just sketches, they look awful." Riko was blushing at the supposedly undeserved praise.

"I can tell, but these are really good. Have some more confidence with your stuff."

Riko placed the glass on the table as she stared at the ground. "You see that too, huh? Nico-senpai said that as well."

"Nico? Like, the Nico I know?"

"Yeah. I'm going to be honest, Maki-senpai." The girl sat on the couch and motioned Maki to sit beside her. "I really thought that you were just joking about getting together. I just saw myself as…a pest. You have much better things to do than just be with a college girl."

"My god, Nico is actually right." Maki tapped Riko's shoulder, getting the younger girl's attention. "You are not **just** a college girl, Riko-chan. I asked you to this date because I really like you. I want to get to know you better and…I only hope that you would as well."

Riko's eyes were watering; she was getting overwhelmed with all of this praise from the woman she loves. But, her self-doubt kept creeping in. She didn't believe that she was good enough for Maki. "You're lying, right? I'm just a plain college girl, and you're an accomplished doctor and idol."

Maki was pouring her heart out, only for Riko to deny any of it. The older red-head was getting fed up with how little Riko thought about herself. She had to shut her up and make sure that Riko was hearing the truth.

So, she wrapped her arms around Riko and pulled her close.

Riko couldn't breathe. Not because of how tight the hug was, but how Maki was actually embracing her. "M-Maki-senpai?"

"Stop saying things that aren't true." Maki was starting to sob. "I might not know that much about you, but I know some things. One. You are very talented. Your drawings are pretty, and your piano playing is breath-taking."

"Maki-senpai…"

"Two. You are such a nice woman. You're a beautiful person, and you have such a loveable personality."

Riko sniffled. She couldn't stop her tears from streaming.

"And three. I haven't fallen in love with too many people. When I have, they all found someone else to love. And I accepted that. But…I don't want you to be taken away from me as well. You are such a wonderful person, and I want to spend so much time with you. I hate that you put yourself down so much when in reality, you are so amazing." Maki released the hug, but held Riko's shoulders. She positioned themselves so that they were facing each other. "Riko-chan, would you be my girlfriend?"

The girl couldn't do anything but nod her head and embrace Maki again.

"I'm…I'm so…happy!" Riko said through her tears.

Maki could only smile. "Me too."

The older girl yawned. "Are you tired?" Riko asked.

"You can't tell?" Maki smirked. The younger red-head lightly slapped Maki's arm. "I'm kidding. But, yeah. I want to sleep, if it's okay."

"Of course!" Riko said, but she remembered something. "I apologize…but, I don't really have a place for you to sleep."

"Well, is the couch fine? I'm okay with sleeping here."

"A-Are you sure?" Riko asked.

Maki laughed at how nervous Riko was. "Yes, don't worry. You can go to your room, and I'll just be here."

"O-Okay." Riko hugged Maki before she went to her room.

Maki sighed.

' _She's amazing. I know I'll love her.'_

…

Maki was awoken by a piano being played. "Huh?"

She stood up and walked towards the sound, which was coming from Riko's room. She even saw that the light was on and was very curious as to what Riko was doing.

Maki opened the door, startling the younger woman. "M-Maki-senpai?"

"Hey, Riko-chan. What are you doing?" Maki saw the piano in Riko's room.

"I couldn't sleep. With how well this day turned out…I was just too excited. So, I was just playing on my piano. I apologize for waking you up."

Maki took a seat beside Riko on the piano bench, surprising the younger woman. "It's okay. It sounded lovely."

"Thank you. I was practicing for the next recital coming up."

"When is it?"

"About two weeks."

Maki smiled. "I want to come and see it."

"You'll be there?" Riko asked in excitement.

"I'll try my best. I don't know if I will be able to, but I will try my hardest. Because…you're really good."

Riko blushed at the praise. "Thanks."

"Can you play it again?"

"My recital piece?" Riko asked.

Maki nodded. "It was lovely, and maybe it will help me go back to sleep."

Riko smiled. "I'll do that for you."

So, Riko played her piano piece as Maki sat beside her. The older woman fell asleep and had her head resting on Riko's shoulder. At first, Riko was blushing from the contact. But, it changed to a relaxing feeling and she loved having Maki beside her. Now that they were dating.

"I love you, Maki-senpai."

…

"Nozomi? What are you doing?" Eli asked as she walked into their bedroom.

"Just testing the cards to see what they say about Maki-chan and Riko-chan." The purple-haired girl said smiling.

"Gosh…Well, can I see?"

"Of course, Elichi!" Nozomi patted the seat beside her, which her girlfriend graciously took.

"Now, let's see the card."

She pulled it from the deck and saw something that she liked. The Lovers.

"Aww, they're dating!"

Eli was still surprised that Nozomi followed her tarot cards. "So, you think they're dating?"

"They are for sure dating, Elichi." Nozomi pouted. "You always doubt my cards, but they're never wrong."

"Well…I can't argue about that." Eli nodded. "Pull one more, maybe the cards will tell us about their future."

"Ooo, good idea." Nozomi pulled another cad from the deck. She was expecting something like the Doves card. That would mean that they would get married.

However, it was something completely different.

"N-Nozomi…can we trust that card?"

Nozomi wanted to say of course…but she didn't like what she drew. I was one that she had never encountered yet, but here it was.

"N-No! Just ignore it. Let's stop for today, okay?" Nozomi asked, to which Eli nodded.

She put the card down, not wanting to look at it again.

It was a red X. The title of it: Pain.


	6. Chapter 5

"Riko-chan!" Chika called out as she entered the café.

"Hi, Chika-chan." Riko stood up from her seat and hugged her orange-haired friend. They both took a seat and Chika ordered her coffee while Riko was tending to her own. "How have you been? School's not killing you?"

Chika puffed her cheeks. "Hey! I'm much smarter than before. It's tough, but I'm doing okay. That doesn't matter right now! You're dating someone!"

Riko blushed from Chika's statement, not used to the fact that she is actually in a relationship. "Yeah…"

"Be happier, Riko-chan! She must be great!"

Riko giggled softly. "I…I think you know who it is."

"Let me see her!" Chika said in excitement.

"Alright, just…don't freak out."

Chika watched as Riko got her phone out. "What's there to freak out about? I'm excited that your dating someone…but…she must…be…is that…?"

"Yes, it is Maki Nishikino. From Muse." Riko had her phone held up and was showing Chika a picture of the two of them on their second date. Maki asked her to take a picture, and as Riko took it, Maki surprised her with a kiss on her cheek.

"E-Excuse me for a sec." Chika stood up and walked out of the café. Riko, very confused as to what her friend was doing, sat in silence as she sipped her coffee and scrolled through her pictures with Maki.

' _It's only been a week since we've been dating. But, it feels like we've been together for such a long time. I really love her.'_

Chika came back into the café, heavily panting and sweating profusely.

"Chika-chan?"

"Sorry, Riko-chan." Chika took a deep breath before she continued. "You said not to freak out…when I saw who you were dating…I almost did…so, I ran around the block," Chika said in-between breaths.

"You could have just reacted…calmly," Riko deadpanned.

"How could I? You're dating Maki Nishikino!" Chika said excitedly, albeit in a hushed tone. "She's was a part of the best idol group, and you were too!"

"You have a lot of confidence in us."

"Of course I do! If you aren't confident, how can you do things that you want to do? Whatever, how is Maki-senpai?" Chika asked with pleading eyes.

Riko blushed, ready to sing the praises of her girlfriend. "She's really nice. She's not always around, but I guess I'm not either. So, being together makes me treasure it more. She and I love to play the piano together. She also helps with my homework if she's able to, since she's really smart."

"You sound head over heels for her. I'm happy for you, Riko-chan!" Chika said.

"Thanks…she's actually coming to see my recital this week," Riko sheepishly added.

"Awesome! You must be so excited!" Chika said.

Riko started to blush. "I am. She was judging the last recital I was in, so it's going to be different. She's going to watch me play, and I want to have it…dedicated…to her, I guess."

"Aww, that sounds sweet." Chika said. "Well, I don't want you to stay here for so long. You should be practicing so that it sounds amazing for Maki-senpai!"

"Yes."

…

Maki was on break, and she was pretty tired. She had a lot of patients to tend to today, but it seemed to have slowed down. The other doctors let her take a break as they had everything under control. Thankfully, there was no emergencies as she felt like she couldn't take care of it right now.

 _ **RING!**_

Her ringtone went off, but it surprised her. That ringtone was for her overseas friends. She put in her earphones and answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Maki-chan!" Kotori gleefully greeted the red-head.

"Kotori! And I assume Hanayo is there too."

"I am! Hi, Maki-chan!" Hanayo said.

"Hello. You caught me at the right time, I'm on break."

"Good, we didn't want to call when you were with a patient." Kotori said.

"Why'd you call me? Not to be rude or anything, but it's weird that you two would be calling me."

"Well, we heard from Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan. You're dating someone!" Hanayo said.

' _God, it's already being tossed around.'_ Maki sighed. "Of course those two would tell you."

"Well, everyone knows. Nozomi-chan called everyone to tell them."

' _Why wouldn't she? How did she even find out…Our date…and probably those stupid cards.'_ Maki pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, no need to cover it up now. Yeah, I am seeing someone."

"You have to send us a picture of you two together!" Kotori said.

"Is she nice?" Hanayo asked.

Maki smiled. "Yeah, she's pretty great. She's a pianist, and she was in another idol group. Aqours."

"A-Aqours?!" Hanayo suddenly said. "I know them! Let me see if I can figure out your girl."

"Hanayo-chan. You…" Kotori sighed. "Sorry about her, Maki-chan. You know how she is."

"Of course I do, I've dealt with her for 3 years."

"And I've dealt with her for 9." Both Kotori and Maki laughed.

"What's so funny?" Hanayo asked innocently. "You two are making fun of me!"

"I-I'm sorry, Hanayo-chan! I'll make it up to you!"

"You better." Maki felt the pout on Hanayo's face, making her feel slightly guilty. She knew it was a façade, but Hanayo was so cute that she could believe anything she did. "Anyways, I think I figured out who it is!"

"That fast?" Maki asked.

"Yup! I think it's Kanan, Mari, and Dia together. And I've seen Hanamaru and Ruby together, so I think they're dating. Yoshiko, Chika, and You are all single, as is Riko. But, because of the red hair, Riko is the one you're dating!"

"That reasoning is so stupid. It's surprising that you actually knew who it was." Maki sighed with how Hanayo deducted her girlfriend out of the nine potential girls. _'I mean, she got it because of red hair? What the hell?'_

"How is Riko? Is she nice?" Kotori asked.

"She is. She, like me, was the composer for Aqours and also plays piano. She's a bit like Umi; shy, but cares a lot about her friends. She's only in her second year of college, and she's doing music, art, and cooking."

"Wow, she seems amazing!" Hanayo gleefully said.

"Yeah…We've been only dating for just over a week, but I think she's something special." Maki said dreamily.

"I hope you two will be happy." Kotori said.

"I hope so as well." Hanayo added.

Maki smiled at her two friends' encouragement. "Thanks. I have to run; my break is ending soon. But…I want to talk with you guys again soon."

"We promise!" The couple said at the same time. "Bye bye, Maki-chan!"

"Goodbye, you two."

She hung up, and her screen shifted back to her home screen. She and Riko sharing their first kiss. She reminisced about that date, where they were at a karaoke bar. After Riko sang "Yume No Tobira," her favourite Muse song, Maki couldn't stop herself and kissed her. Riko was surprised, but she reciprocated it soon after the shock went away. Maki asked if she could do it again, but get a picture of it. Surprisingly, Riko agreed. And now, Maki's phone background was her and Riko sharing a kiss.

' _God, I love her.'_

* * *

It was only one day before Riko's recital. She wasn't too worried about how she would place in the competition. If she placed first or last, it didn't matter enough for her. She was more afraid of messing up when Maki was watching.

She was lying in her bed, trying to fall asleep. However, she couldn't with all of her nerves making her stay awake. She could only think of one way to calm herself.

Riko:  
 _Are you still awake?_

"Huh?" Maki was starting to doze off. _'Who would want to be texting me right now?'_ Looking at her phone, she saw Riko's question. She wanted to sleep, but there would be a reason why Riko would be texting. So, she couldn't turn her girlfriend down.

Maki:  
 _I was going to sleep  
But, then you texted me_

Riko:  
 _You can sleep!_

Maki giggled at how flustered Riko sounded just from seeing her words.

Maki:  
 _Don't be silly!  
You seem nervous  
We can talk, if you want_

Riko:  
 _If it's okay  
I'm feeling nervous for tomorrow_

Maki:  
 _Well, it is a competition_

Riko:  
 _Not for that, although it doesn't help  
I'm nervous that I'm playing for you_

Maki smiled, but she had to let Riko down gently.

Maki:  
 _Hopefully, I'll be able to hear you play  
What if I can't make it?_

Riko saw the text and thought about it. _'It's okay if she misses it. Maki-senpai is a doctor. She might have emergencies to tend to.'_

Riko:  
 _It's okay  
Sick people are more important_

Maki:  
 _Thanks for understanding  
I'll try my best to go to the recital  
I want to hear you play  
And not have to judge you_

Riko:  
 _lol  
Good night, Maki-senpai_

Maki:  
 _You don't have to call me senpai  
We've been dating for nearly two weeks_

Riko:  
 _Okay  
Maki-chan, good night_

Maki:  
 _Good night, Riko-chan_

* * *

Waiting for her performance was making Riko nervous. She was trying anything she could to calm herself down; listen to some classical music, read one of her fan fictions, look at her pictures. It was the latter that made her feel a bit calmer.

' _Maki-chan is going to be watching me. As long as she likes it, I'll be happy.'_

"Ms. Sakurauchi, you are up next. Please get ready."

Standing up when hearing her name called, she started to walk to the door.

' _It's going to be perfect. For Maki-chan.'_

…

Riko, with her two first place wins, was slightly disappointed when she got third place. However, she wasn't too concerned about that. For school, being in the top three is very helpful for her. Once the awards ceremony was finished, she ran out of the venue and looked for her loving girlfriend.

But as she kept running around, she was realizing that Maki wasn't there.

Looking at her phone, she saw that she got a text from Maki right before she performed. She didn't check it after her performance as she was conversing with some of the other competitors and was watching the other performances.

Going into her texts, she felt her heart break slightly from seeing the few words on the screen.

Maki:  
 _I have a lot to do at the hospital  
I'm not sure if I can make it  
I'm sorry, please forgive me  
We'll go out later and talk about it_

Finding some steps, she took a seat. She kept scanning the text messages sent to her from Maki.

' _I shouldn't be surprised. She's a head doctor, so of course she's going to have a lot of work. I'm proud that she's able to balance being a doctor and us being in a relationship. And…we'll be able to talk about my recital later today. It's all okay…_

' _But that doesn't explain why it hurts so much…'_

"Riko-chan?"

"You-chan? Chika-chan?" Riko looked up and said when she saw her friends from her tear-filled eyes. "What…What are you doing here?" She asked as she tried to subtly wipe her tears.

"Well, You-chan was free today. I told her that you had a recital, and she wanted to watch. And, here we are!" Chika excitedly said.

Riko smiled a bit. "Thanks Chika-chan. You-chan."

"It's alright. I missed hearing your piano playing." You said as she and Chika both knelt down so they were at Riko's level. "But, why were you crying?"

"Yeah, you don't have to feel so bad, Riko-chan! You did your best, and you were still at the top!" Chika said, trying to cheer up her friend.

Riko saw the smiles plastered on her two best friends. She loved them for making her feel a bit of joy. But, it wasn't enough to make her truly happy. She wanted to see that heart-warming smile, but from her loving girlfriend. But, she couldn't feel that sense of comfort.

"Riko-chan? Oof!" Chika said along with You when they were suddenly brought into an embrace, Riko hooking her arms around her two friend's necks.

They both felt Riko's tears on their shoulders and how much Riko was shivering.

"Hey. Riko-chan." You stood up, but was holding Riko's hand. "We should go somewhere else. And talk."

…

The best place they found: Riko's apartment. Thankfully, it was close by. You drove them over since she had her car with her.

Entering the apartment, Riko asked them to sit in the living room while she prepared them tea. They insisted on doing it since Riko just finished up a competition, but the red-head didn't cave and told them to sit.

After handing out the tea, Riko brought a dining room chair and sat in front of her two best friends, who were sharing a seat on the couch.

"So, were you really that sad about getting third place?" Chika asked.

Riko faintly smiled at her friend's innocent question. "No, I wasn't that upset on getting third. For school, getting in the top three is always welcome for my piano class." Riko sighed. "I was upset that Maki-chan didn't come."

"Maki-chan?" You asked.

"Ah! I forgot to tell you, You-chan! Riko-chan is dating Maki-senpai. From Muse!" Chika said with excitement.

"That's really cool!" You nodded. She wasn't big on the whole idol world, other than Hanamaru. She knew Chika liked Muse, so it must be neat that Riko is dating a person from there. You was just happy that Riko found someone to love. "Why wasn't she able to come to the recital?"

"Well, she's the head doctor of her hospital. So, she had a lot to do. And she had to miss my recital." Riko said dejectedly.

"That sucks," Chika said.

"But, it makes sense." You argued. "If she's the head doctor, it's natural that she would have a lot to do. It's unfortunate, but there are a lot of times when you have to be put beside her line of work."

"I know that…" Riko started to stare at her window, just wanting to think about her and Maki. "It's just…it's me being selfish, I guess. I want her to be around for everything I do. I can't be with her at her work, since she has to be focused on treating others. It would just be nice if she could be with me."

Riko felt arms wrap around her, and looked over to see Chika right beside her. "I understand that. We understand that, Riko-chan. You've only been dating for two weeks."

"So, of course you want her to be around." You continued. "It's nice to have your girlfriend around to be able to comfort you. But, it can't always work like that."

Riko sighed. "I told you guys, I already know that. She has to put me aside and focus on her work."

"But, it's only the first time." Chika said. "You have other times you can perform. She can be with you when she has free time. It sucks that she couldn't be here today to see you perform, but there are other chances. When she has free time, I know she would want to be with you."

"I…I guess your right…" Riko said, her confidence wavering.

"Chika-chan is **right!** You need confidence in yourself, Riko-chan!" You said. "She misses you so much, and she hates that she missed your recital."

"Well, she does want to meet up later and talk." Riko stated.

"Perfect! You'll see how much she hated missing your recital!" Chika said. "And you just have to tell her to come to the other ones you go to. Because she wants to support you in anyway possible!"

Riko smiled. She felt the positivity of her two friends flow through her, and felt a bit more confident. "You two are right. I just need to talk with her. And…we'll work things out."

Both Chika and You put their thumbs up. "Right!"


	7. Chapter 6

Maki was feeling the guilt weigh her down as she approached Riko's door.

' _I really messed up. She was so excited for me to watch her perform. I told her that we could talk about it, but she didn't text me back. I can't look at her in the face. But…my job should come first. People's lives are more important that her…it sounds so awful saying that, but it's the truth.'_

She knocked the door in front of her and was waiting for it to open. Dreading every single second that she wasn't by Riko's side. But her seeing Riko wouldn't bring much comfort to her either.

The door opened, and held Riko dressed in a one-piece pyjama. "Hello, Maki-chan."

Hearing her name being said by her girlfriend made Maki shiver. She felt tears welt up, but she didn't want to show her weakness in front of Riko.

Her resistance didn't last long as she embraced Riko and cried into her shoulder.

"Maki-chan! Hey, calm down." Riko said as she tried to keep her voice steady. Feeling Maki's embrace and hearing her cry…she wanted to let out her emotions as well. But, she stayed strong as she guided the sobbing girl into her home. She seated Maki on the couch as she took a seat beside her. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"I'm an awful girlfriend, aren't I?" Maki asked, but it wasn't directed at anyone in particular. It just sounded like Maki wanted to vent. "I get to date an amazing girl. We've had so much fun together with all of our dates. But, when something important comes along, I just have to screw it all up!"

"Are you talking about today?" Riko asked. "It's fine, Maki-chan."

"No. It's not fine, Riko-chan." Maki grasped Riko's hands in her own. "You wanted me to be there for you. And…I just couldn't!"

Riko was surprised that Maki was saying everything Riko thought about. But, she knew Maki had more important things. "You don't have to knock yourself down like this, Maki-chan. You're a doctor. Saving lives are more important that a recital."

"But it bothers you, doesn't it?!" Maki said. "You wanted me to be there!"

"Y-Yes. But, I already said-"

"I know that! You don't have to lie, Riko-chan. You hated that I wasn't there."

"I wouldn't say…hate." Riko felt Maki's hands grip hers tighter. Looking into Maki's eyes, she saw the stern and serious look on her face. Maki's violet eyes were telling her, 'Tell me the truth.' Riko sighed. "Alright, I did. I always thought you were going to be there. I kept telling myself, 'I have to play this perfectly for Maki-chan.' When I read your texts, and how you couldn't see me play…it hurt."

It was Maki's turn to be the comforter, as she saw Riko start to break down. She moved closer to Riko and hugged her. She kissed the top of Riko's head, and then started to pet her. "I know. I wanted to be there. I don't want to hurt you, Riko-chan. I want to be with you so much. Can you…forgive me?" Maki smiled slightly when she felt Riko nod. She still hated that she couldn't be there for her girlfriend, but she was slightly happy that she could at least be forgiven.

"I know you're always busy because of your line of work." Riko said, a bit muffled from speaking through Maki's shoulder. It was still clear enough for her to hear, though. "Besides, we can still do this again. I have other recitals and competitions to go to."

Maki smiled from hearing this. "R-Right! I'll make time for those, for sure."

"Can you promise me that?" Riko asked. She was still on the fence about it. Maki had to be a doctor first before being a girlfriend. She didn't want Maki to promise something, just to end with disappointment.

"Promise." Maki said. "If you have another performance, I will make sure that I am there." Maki cupped her girlfriend's cheeks and raised her head up to kiss her lips. It was a tender, but passionate kiss. A much better one than their first. Maki wanted to make sure that she was being truthful. "I promise you, Riko-chan."

Riko softly smiled. "Okay."

"So, we're okay?" Maki asked, which received a nod. "It sucks, but I need to go n- Huh? Riko-chan?" Maki was getting up from the couch and started to go to the door. However, she felt Riko's hand gripping Maki's wrist.

"Don't leave."

Maki saw the desire in Riko's eyes. She's missed her girlfriend for a while, and she just wanted to be with her.

To be fair, Maki did as well.

"Alright. Can I spend the night?" Maki asked as she sat beside her girlfriend again.

Riko hugged Maki's waist. "Of course you can."

* * *

Maki stared at her phone; more specifically, her texts with Riko. Scrolling through the walls of text, it was more or less the same conversation.

It would start with Maki asking how Riko was. Then she would say she is okay. Maki would ask if they can go out or if there are any recitals going on. Then Riko would respond, saying that she was too busy with school work. It would end with Maki wishing her good luck and Riko saying thanks.

' _Me not going to her recital really messed us up…'_ Maki thought to herself. _'Have we gone out anytime after that? It's been what…two and a half weeks since we've gone out. She can't be that busy with school…So, is she just trying to avoid me?'_ Maki sighed. _'I'll go to her place today.'_

…

After her work was done, she headed over to Riko's house. She was prepared to confront Riko about avoiding her for the past few weeks. She knocked on the door and waited impatiently. Her expression softened when she saw Riko in the doorway.

"Maki-chan? Why are you here?" Riko asked.

It took a while for the doctor to respond, as she was staring at her girlfriend in shock. Riko was wearing her pink pyjamas. Her hair was shrivelled and she had large bags under her eyes. The girl looked like she would pass out from just closing her eyes. "I just wanted to check up on you. Since…we haven't hung out for a while. I don't mean to be rude, but you look…awful."

Riko sighed, but it wasn't directed at Maki. "I know. I told you, I have a lot of homework to do. Exams are coming up, so I need to be ready. Sorry for not being able to hang out."

"No, it's fine," Maki said. _'I just feel guilty since I just thought you were trying to avoid me.'_ She thought to herself. "You need any help? I'll try my best."

Maki smiled at Riko's tired smile. "I would love that." Maki's eyes widened when she felt a pair of lips on her cheek, and stared at her smiling girlfriend. "I missed you."

"I missed you too," Maki said, returning Riko's kiss with her own.

The two of them went over to Maki's living room, where most of the studying was happening. Along the table was scattered notes of what looked to be some calculus and some science that Maki couldn't remember. "I didn't know you were taking calc."

"I needed some type of back-up if being a mangaka, piano player, or chef didn't work out. I…I wanted to try out medicine. So…I could be with you…at the hospital," Riko confessed.

Maki smiled. "Really? You don't have to do that, you know. I would let you stay there whenever you wanted."

"I know," Riko said, "But, I wanted to be like you. When you explained that doctors and idols are alike, it was…inspiring. It's tough to learn everything, but if it means I can make people happy…it means the world."

"That's really noble, Riko-chan." Maki felt proud of how nice and amazing her girlfriend was. "I want to help you, Riko-chan. Let's get to work."

"Yes."

The two of them worked through Riko's work. It was tougher than Maki remembered, but she quickly got into the groove of it. Riko was happy that she was able to spend time with Maki as she worked through her schoolwork.

"Are you going to any recitals soon?" Maki asked out of the blue.

"Recitals? Not really. I'm more focused on exams than piano right now."

"Oh." Maki said dejectedly. She wanted to make up for not being able to go to Maki's first recital.

"I am planning to participate in the concert coming up. It's after exams, and we're free to play anything. I'm making up a composition in my free time."

"And you're not spending it with me?" Maki pouted. Riko sighed, but Maki laughed it off. "I'm joking. Can I hear it?"

"Nope!" Riko said with a pop. "It's a secret."

"Well, I know I can't miss it now." Maki said.

Riko leaned over and rested herself on Maki's side. "I'm so tired, but I'm happy that I'm with you."

Maki leaned her head so it was resting on Riko's. "Me too."

Riko thoughts were swirling from Maki's last comment. _"Well, I know I can't miss it now."_ Those words haunted Riko. She was afraid that it would happen again, and it was something that Riko definitely didn't want to happen. Her song is special to both of them, because it's dedicated to them.


	8. Chapter 7

" **Text** " – Bold = English (Should give you a hint as to who is here)

* * *

Riko's fingers gracefully played the last notes of her song for the concert. Taking a breath, she turned to her desk in her bedroom. "So, how was it?" She asked.

"That was **fabulous!** " Mari's voice was heard.

"It sounded nice," Kanan commented.

"It was lovely," Dia finally added.

Riko finished her composition in her free time. The free time she had was split between Maki and Riko, and with her piano trying to finish the song. She had to let some people hear it, but it had to be a secret from Maki. So, asking any member of Muse was out of the question. Hanamaru and Ruby were on their tour, and Yoshiko was…well, who knows what she was doing. Chika and You went back, so Riko's consciousness forced her to not ask them since they were too far away. Some people she hasn't talked to in a while were her seniors. So, she called them up on her laptop. They were happy to hear her song after all of the details of her relationship was out there.

"Thanks. You aren't lying, right?" Riko asked.

She saw Kanan sigh. "You've always had this problem, Riko-chan. It sounded great, trust us. We've been in your care for the music in Aqours."

" **Correct!** Riko-chan, we wouldn't have used your music for us if it sounded bad." Mari said. She got a glare from Kanan and a light slap from Dia. "Hey! I'm trying to encourage her here!"

"We know," Dia said, "You're just not doing it right. Riko-chan, it was good. You're going to be performing this in front of a crowd. Be proud of what you put out there."

"Right." Riko softly said. "Speaking of which, I'm going to invite everyone to come watch. Are you able to come then? It's coming up soon, about a week."

Riko watched as the three of them huddled away from their computer and discussed the situation.

"We should be good." Kanan said. "It would be nice to have everyone together again. We've only been able to see You-chan and Chika-chan."

"Great!" Riko happily said.

"Who else are you inviting?" Mari asked.

"Hmm. Well, I'll need to get in touch with Yoshiko-chan." Riko started to say.

"I'll be able to get to her." Mari said. "She doesn't have any tournaments coming up, so she should be okay."

"How do you know that?" Dia asked.

"Well, I watch from time to time. I need to cheer my friend on." Mari said.

"Okay, that's good," Riko said. "Hanamaru-chan and Ruby-chan should have this weekend off. Their tour allows her to get those days freed up. I've already talked to Chika-chan and You-chan, and they're good."

"Anyone else?" Kanan asked. The bluenette had a strong feeling as to who else would be coming, which was unknown to her two friends. She was smirking inside.

"Well, Maki-chan promised to come watch." Riko said.

Dia and Mari's eyebrows raised up from hearing that name. "Maki-chan?" Dia questioningly said.

"Oh, I haven't told you guys yet. I'm dating someone." Riko sheepishly said. She saw Kanan smirk. _'How does she know?'_

"Can you show us a picture of her?" Dia asked, still very suspicious.

"Yeah." Riko pulled out her phone and went to her pictures. She chose a recent one, where the two of them were at the beach. It's been a month since they have been together, so they celebrated with a beach vacation. Luckily, Riko finished her work (with Maki's help), so she was able to relax with her girlfriend. The picture was them sharing a kiss as the sunset was in the background. It was a new personal favourite for Riko.

"Here." She turned the phone after admiring it for a few seconds. She saw the girls' eyes widen (except for Kanan's). And she just remembered who she was dealing with.

"That's Maki-san!" Dia exclaimed. "You're…dating Maki-san?!"

"Umm…yeah…" Riko said quietly.

"Why didn't you tell us anything?!" Dia asked. Riko could hear the irritation in Dia's voice, and Mari was giving her a stern look.

"I…forgot?"

"Unbelievable!" Dia looked at her girlfriend, who was sharing the same sentiment. "Can you believe it, Kanan?!"

"Yes, I can," the bluenette replied calmly.

"Is that why you didn't react when I said I was dating somebody?" Riko asked.

"Yeah…You-chan and Chika-chan have been keeping me up with everyone. I was surprised when I found out you were dating someone. And I was more surprised that it was someone from Muse." Kanan explained. "It's a nice story, to be fair."

"Thanks." Riko said. She was always comfortable around Kanan. She seemed so…not eccentric compared to the other members. So, it was nice to hear Kanan's appreciation.

"Kanan! You never told us?!" Mari said in a whiny tone. Riko forgot that she was dealing with fans of Muse (which was a definite understatement). " **Why not**?!" Mari and Dia glared at their blue-haired friend, who was slightly cowering in fear.

"Because I knew you two would act like this. Let Riko-chan have this. Her happiness is more important than the person she's dating." Kanan stood up and chopped both girls on the head in shame.

"Right…sorry, Riko-chan." Dia apologized as Mari nodded apologetically as well.

"It's okay." Riko sighed as she forgave the two of them.

"You only know Maki-chan, right? No one else from Muse like Nozomi-san or Eli-san?" Dia asked.

"Well…I do know them." Riko flinched as she said that. She was expecting Dia to freak out again since Eli is the black-haired girl's favourite member.

"WH- Ow!" Dia was prepared to scream when she heard Riko knew her favourite member. She was abruptly stopped by Kanan's hand pulling on Dia's ear. "K-Kanan?!"

"Be calm, Dia. Or this is going to be much more painful." Kanan said threateningly. Dia saw the seriousness in Kanan's eyes.

So, she turned to Mari, expecting a similar reaction from her girlfriend. "M-Mari?"

"You should be more considerate, Dia." Mari scolded her girlfriend.

Dia saw how conserved her normally energetic girlfriend was. She felt ashamed and hung her head in shame. "Sorry again, Riko-chan."

The red-head giggled at her older friend's antics. "It's alright, Dia-san. I know how much of a fan you are of Muse." She laughed again at Dia's ashamed sigh. "Anyways, I want to invite Nozomi-senpai and Eli-senpai. I was also planning to get Arisa-senpai to come as well. I've only met them, and only met Honoka-senpai and Nico-senpai when I was with Hanamaru-chan."

"Huh, you know a lot of them," Mari commented. "Is there any reason why you want all of us to come watch?"

"Well, the song I composed…it's special. I made it for me and Maki-chan."

"Aww," Dia said, "That's nice. Is there anything special you want us to do?"

"Not really," Riko said. "If you want, you can record it. It's nothing much, I just want Maki-chan to hear it."

" **That's too cute**!" Mari commented, bringing a blush to Riko's face. "Have you given your song a title yet?"

"I…haven't thought about it. I guess I need one, huh?"

"Don't worry about it for right now." Kanan said. "All you have to know is that your song sounds amazing, and Maki-chan will love it."

Riko smiled at Kanan's words of encouragement. She looked at the screen and saw three smiling faces, bringing a wave of encouragement over her. "Thanks. I need to sleep now, but thanks for hearing me out."

"Of course. Anytime, Riko-chan." Dia said.

They shared their goodbyes and hung up. Riko stood up and plopped onto her bed. She was thinking about Mari's comment.

' _A name…what could I name it?'_ She looked at her photos again, scrolling though all of her memories she made with Maki so far. Thinking about her piece, she was thinking about how it was composed. Fast and sharp notes, with a happy tone anchoring it. She stood up and wrote down the title of the song before hopping back into bed.

" _A Red-Hot Love"_

* * *

The day of the recital came, and with that came the nerves. Riko was frantically pacing back and forth, her mind completely muddled.

She was hugged from behind by her girlfriend. "You feeling nervous?" Maki asked.

Riko slowly nodded. "I'm performing…in front of everyone…so, I guess you could say that," Riko said as she nervously chuckled.

Maki rested her chin on Riko's shoulder and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You told me how you handled that before. We're just people in the audience, right?"

The worrying red-head showed a slight smile. "I guess…"

Maki lightly laughed. "Well, just be more confident. We'll all be there, we'll all love you."

"Thanks."

Maki released her hug, but held Riko's hand. "Should we get going then? You don't want to be late."

Riko nodded, and the two left the apartment.

…

After a bit of traffic, the two of them got to the venue. They were looking for a place to park when Maki stopped the car.

Sighing, she said, "I think it's better for you to just go before me. You don't want to be late, right?"

"I don't think I'll be the first act. I have some time. And…I want to go with you," Riko lovingly said. It melted Maki's heart to see how cute her girlfriend was being.

"You're going to kill me," Maki jokingly said. Suddenly, her phone rang, startling the two girls from their cuteness exchange. "The hospital? Hello?"

As Maki kept talking with them, it was making Riko worried. _'She has a day off, right? Is it that important?'_

"Alright. Yeah, I'm going now." Hearing those words leave Maki's mouth broke Riko's heart. Maki hung up the phone and looked at Riko apologetically. "They need me at the hospital."

"They can't get anyone else?" Riko desperately asked.

Maki shook her head. "They need me specifically for it. I'm sorry, Riko-chan."

Riko felt her tears welting up. She looked down so she didn't have to let Maki see her face. "It's alright," she said quietly.

"No, it's not. You wanted me to come watch. And I'll do my damnedest to do so." Riko looked up to see a determined look on Maki's face. "If you find anyone or you learn when you are performing, text me. I'll try my hardest to finish up everything with quality and efficiency."

Riko, despite knowing Maki might not make it to her recital, couldn't help but smile with how determined Maki was. "Okay. You'll do your best. Patients are more important, I understand that." Her thoughts betrayed what Riko was thinking. _'It's selfish, but I want me to be the most important.'_

"Thanks for understanding. And I promise that I'll watch it with everyone. And you'll be smiling when you finish the song,because everyone will love it." Maki said as she held Riko's hands.

"You promise?"

Maki passionately kissed Riko, surprising the girl. "Promise."

The two of them hugged, kissed, and said their goodbyes. Riko stepped out of the car and waved goodbye. Maki returned it and started heading to the hospital.

' _She'll make it,'_ Riko thought as she wiped away her tears. _'She promised.'_

…

Riko walked to the busy venue. Finding a schedule, she saw that she was performing very close to last, about 5 people away from the bottom. She texted Maki the detail. Maki replied quickly, saying that she would make it. Riko could only assume that Maki already made it to the hospital, which was a good sign.

"Riko-chan!" She heard a familiar orange-haired girl call out. Turning to the voice, she saw all of her Aqours friends, with Chika and You in the center of all of them. She quickly walked over to them and hugged Chika and You. "Riko-chan?"

"Thanks for coming. All of you," Riko said, looking at all of her friends. "Hanamaru-chan? You aren't getting swamped with fans?"

"Zura?" Hanamaru was surprised that she was the first person that was talked to. "No, Riko-san. I told my fans that I am taking some days off. I haven't run into too many fans, and the ones I've seen have been very polite, zura."

"That's good to hear." Riko said. "Hello, Yoshiko-chan. It's been a while, huh?"

"Yes, it has Lily…and it's Yohane!" The fallen angel said. Everyone laughed at the small exchange, and Riko could see the smile on everyone's faces. She knew that everyone was happy to be back together after so long.

"Are you feeling nervous?" Dia asked.

Riko nodded. "I am. I'm performing in front of all of you. I don't want to mess up, it would be embarrassing."

"Aieeeee!"

"Hmm, not bad. You are developing faster than Maki-chan did." A voice said.

"Nozomi!" A familiar blonde's voice called out to the woman groping her chest. "God, Nozomi. You only met Riko-chan once. You can't just go and do that to her."

"Sorry, Elichi!" Nozomi said.

Riko pulled the hands off her breasts and turned to the other group. "Eli-senpai! Arisa-senpai! You guys made it!"

"Hey, what about me?" Nozomi innocently asked. She pouted when she saw Riko hug Eli and Arisa. "Rude, Riko-chan."

"I'm kidding, Nozomi-senpai. I just didn't like it when you…groped me." Riko said shyly.

"I apologize for her actions, Riko," Eli said, getting a playful smack from her girlfriend.

"E-E-E-Eli…san…" Everyone heard Dia stutter.

"Huh? Oh, hello there." Eli bowed, as did Nozomi, to Aqours. The reactions were varied, to say the least.

You, Yoshiko, Hanamaru, and Ruby stayed very neutral. You and Yoshiko were happy to meet the people who inspired Muse, but they only saw the two as potential new friends. Eli and Nozomi saw Hanamaru and Ruby and remembered them. Nico and Honoka, from time-to-time, treated the two of them to have dinner. The Muse couple remembered how Ruby reacted to seeing them from the first time and how excited and nervous the young red-head was. Now, they kept in touch and have been doing so for a while now.

"Ruby! You never told me you met Eli-san!"

"Sorry, onee-chan." Ruby apologetically said.

The Muse fans of Aqours had additional varied reactions. Kanan bowed back to the two and told them how much of a fan she was in her usual calm voice. Chika asked for a hug, which they both gave to her. Eli giggled and said how much Chika was like Honoka, which brought a blush to the Aqours' leader's face since she was being compared to her favourite Muse member. Dia and Mari were the most energetic as they were meeting their favourite Muse members (Eli for Dia and Nozomi for Mari). The seniors talked to them and asked them about general topics, ranging from idol talk and their careers.

While this was happening, Arisa was beside Riko as they watched Eli and Nozomi interact with the rest of Aqours.

"Hey, Riko-chan?" Arisa said.

"Yes?"

"Where's Maki-senpai?"

Riko sighed and lightly smiled from hearing Arisa's obvious question. "She's…at the hospital. They needed her…"

"Oh." Arisa felt the saddened feeling from Riko.

"She said that she'll be here…when she's done…" Just saying the words was making Riko feel depressed. Maki might not be able to make her concert, and she should understand that. But, all she wants is for Maki to be with her for the most important times. Like this.

"She will be, Riko-chan." Arisa said, trying to lift the red-head's spirits. "You just have to trust her."

Riko smiled from Arisa's encouragement. "Thanks, Arisa-senpai. I know…I just have to trust her…"

Arisa surprised Riko with a side hug. However, Riko knew what Arisa was doing. She was just trying to assure her that Maki would be here. And it was comforting to be in Arisa's embrace.

"Hey!" Riko called out after Arisa released the hug. "I have to get ready. Thanks for coming everyone!"

They all said their responses and smiled.

As Riko left the group, her smile that she showed in front of her friends turned into a small frown. But, she remembered Arisa's words and Maki's words. _'She promised that she would be here. And…I trust her to do so…'_

…

Riko checked her phone constantly, waiting for some notification from Maki. But, with only one more person before her, she still saw nothing.

' _Maki-chan…you'll make it…right?'_

"Ms. Sakurauchi. Please get ready to perform."

Riko started to walk to the door. Every step she took, she hoped that her phone would go off once. Once she got to the door, she knew that there wasn't a single notification. No ringtone, no vibration, nothing.

' _She must be driving back here. She's probably almost here. She just wants to surprise me.'_ It was the only thoughts she could think of to have a glimmer of hope.

With those lingering thoughts in her mind, she turned off her phone and opened the door to play.

…

"Maki isn't here yet?" Eli asked her sister.

Arisa looked around, but she wasn't able to see Maki anywhere. "No. But she will be before Riko-chan performs!"

 _'..._ _Right, Maki-senpai?'_

"Please give a welcome to Riko Sakurauchi, with her original piece: 'A Red-Hot Love'."

Applause was heard from the whole room. Riko was an established piano player in the scene, so everyone who was a fan of her was here. Riko didn't care about any of that.

Once she came out, she went to the center of the stage. With desperation, she scanned through the crowd to even see a hint of the familiar red hair. But, it was to no avail. With a bow to the audience, she took her seat and began to play.

Dia had her phone out, recording the entire thing. Even though she, Mari, and Kanan have already heard the song, they couldn't help but join in with everyone's adoration for the piece. It was fast paced, with sharp notes played and a jovial vibe being the center of it all. Eli, Nozomi, and Arisa (despite being worried that Maki isn't here) sat in amazement. They could only compare the piece to some that Maki did, but they could hear the passion in it. The members of Aqours knew that Riko's piano playing was great, but they didn't know that Riko could put this much dedication into a song. Everyone knew that this was **for** Maki. And so, it only worried them that Maki wasn't here to listen to it.

Riko played the final notes and took a breath. She played her heart out, and she could only hope that Maki was here to listen to it. Standing up and turning to the crowd, everyone's heads turned to a sudden door opening. With the small bit of light coming from outside the auditorium, Riko could see who it was. She took a bow, wiped her tears away, and walked quickly back to the holding room.

"No…No…" Was all Maki could say before she quickly ran to where Riko would be.


	9. Chapter 8

Maki wanted to barge into the waiting room to apologize with all of her heart. However, she was stopped at the entrance and was told it was for participants.

She wasn't feeling too motivated to watch the other performances as she was hung up on missing the most important one.

' _I can't believe it. I missed it again. How can I repay her...I just need to go to another one. She's too important to miss again.'_

Maki heard the doors opening from the auditorium and felt happy that it was over. She could see Riko again and apologize for missing her performance.

"Hello, Maki." Eli greeted her friend.

"Eli," Maki said, not paying attention to the blonde. She looked up her, but her attention was focused mostly on the participant door.

"Riko sounded good," Eli told her.

"Of course she did. She's amazing," Maki said. She planted her face into her palms. "I can't believe I missed it."

"Riko-chan!" Maki heard someone call out. Looking up, Riko was right outside of the door. She looked at the girl who called her and smiled at her. Riko scanned the group, but saw the one person she didn't want to see. She began to walk away at a fast pace. "Riko-chan?"

Before anyone else could start moving to her, Maki started to run in Riko's direction. "RIKO-CHAN!"

Riko heard the shout of the familiar voice and started to pick up her pace. She did not want to see Maki right now. Once she was outside, Riko darted straight to the nearby café. Before she could enter, her shoulders were gripped by a familiar touch.

"Riko-chan," Maki said as she took a deep breath. She was able to catch up to Riko, but it took a good amount of effort to reach her. "I'm-"

"Where were you?!" Riko pushed the arms away and looked at Maki with a fierce look.

Maki was surprised to see this look on Riko's face. "You know where I was. It went long, I couldn't help it. I'm sorry."

Riko saw the other girls approaching them. However, they were staying their distance as they saw the two girls arguing. "Was it important? Enough for you to neglect me?"

Maki was getting irritated with how much Riko was playing off her work. "Of course it was important. I'm a head doctor, I have patients to tend to. And what do you mean that I neglected you? We could barely go out the past few weeks. Didn't you want to spend some time with me?"

"I did! Don't you think school is important for me? Isn't it equal to your work? So, you think that my school work isn't equal to yours?"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Maki was getting frustrated with her girlfriend. "All I want is to make it up to you. I never meant to miss this, but I'm sorry that I did. I'll make it up to you, Riko-chan!"

Riko felt like Maki didn't understand anything they shared. "This isn't something that you can just make up, Maki-chan. This was something special. To me…and to you. You promised me that you wouldn't miss it! Isn't that something you should be able to keep?"

"I'm sorry that I couldn't keep a stupid promise, Riko-chan! There are times when my work is more important than us!"

"What? S-Stupid?" Riko couldn't believe the words she heard. "Everything you said to me...those promises that you made…it was just stupid to you? You didn't care about that?"

The older girl crossed a line, and she didn't even see it until she saw the pain in Riko's eyes. "No...I didn't mean that...I did care-"

"Well, obviously you didn't care enough. It may sound childish, but promises are precious to me. Calling it stupid…it shows how much you care about this."

"I…" Maki was at a loss for words. She was realizing her mistakes, but she couldn't say anything to counter Riko's words.

"I'm sorry, Maki-chan…I don't want to do this, because I love you too much…but, we have to break up." Riko wiped away her tears.

"Riko…I'm…I'm sorry…We don't-"

"I can't if it's like this, Maki-chan. Isn't it better to focus on our work? We can't see each other that often anyways, so it might be better. Right?"

"No…It…doesn't have to end like this…" Maki was barely getting her words out. She couldn't believe that this was happening.

"It was nice to be with you for so long, Maki-chan. It was some of the best days of my life. But…"

"Riko-chan…"

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Maki-chan." It was Riko's last words to her before she turned around and went over to the group of girls. "Chika-chan, You-chan. Can you drive me back home?"

"S-Sure," was all Chika could say. After seeing that, they didn't want to make the atmosphere even more awkward than it was. "Let's go, You-chan." She turned to the other girls. "We'll see you later. It was nice to meet you Eli-san, Nozomi-san, and Arisa-san."

"Same. Bye, girls." Eli bowed to the three girls as they left.

"I think we'll leave as well," Hanamaru said. She, Ruby, and Yoshiko said their goodbyes to the girls and started to walk away.

"Are you leaving too?" Nozomi asked. "We understand if you do."

Dia shook her head, which surprised Kanan and Mari. "I have something to show Maki-san."

"Okay."

The six girls walked over to Maki. The red-head was kneeling on the sidewalk, clutching her skirt as her tears fell onto the pavement.

"Maki-chan?" Nozomi knelt down and held Maki's shoulder.

"I messed up. I lost the best person in my life because I couldn't keep a promise. I only thought of it as a thing we say so we'd be together, but she was the only one that took it seriously." Maki was trembling. So, Nozomi and Eli went and hugged her, doing anything to comfort her.

"Maki-san." The red-head heard her named called. She looked up to see a person that she hasn't seen before. The face seemed familiar, but she was too distraught to try and remember.

"Yes?" Maki replied.

"I'm a friend of Riko-chan. She…played her song for us before the concert. And…she said it was for you. It might not help but…would you like to listen to it?" Dia asked.

' _A friend of Riko-chan would want to help someone like me? Someone who can't even care about her enough?'_ Maki wiped away her tears. "If it's okay."

Dia nodded. "We should go to the café an-"

"Please. Let me listen to it now." Maki desperately demanded.

"Hey, Maki-" Eli was about to scold the red-head, but she felt Nozomi's grip tighten. Looking to her girlfriend's face, she saw Nozomi shaking her head.

"Okay." The black-haired girl plugged in her earphones and lent them to Maki. When Maki put in the earphones, she heard the title of the song.

' _Red-Hot Love. She thought so much about us…and I couldn't even bother to make her happy.'_ As soon as the first note was played, Maki's eyes started to water up. The sound was so enjoyable and fun. It was fast, but it conveyed Riko's emotions extremely well. As it kept going, Maki could only watch her love play her heart out. And she could only feel the guilt weighing down on her for not being there to listen to it live.

"Maki?" Eli looked at her friend. She saw the tears dripping onto Dia's phone. She was about to wipe it away, but she was stopped by the ravenette.

"I'm so awful. I wouldn't want to be with me either." Maki said after the song was finished.

"Maki-san. You are not awful. I know that the both of you still love each other. But…this will take some time to get over. Especially for Riko-chan. Please, give her some time. She might be overreacting, but she takes relationships seriously. Not to say that you don't, but Riko I feel treasured our friendships more than anyone else did." Once Dia was finished saying her words, she stood up and asked Mari and Kanan if they could leave, which they said yes.

"Why did you want to show me this?" The trio of girls looked back at Maki, who was still crouching. "I hurt your friend...and yet, you're trying to help me. Why?"

Dia faintly smiled. "I haven't seen Riko that happy before. She was shining when she was talking about you. She still loves you, Maki-san. But...this hurt her. I hope you understand that."

"I...I do. But...what you said before that." Maki made her way over to Dia and looked her square in the eyes. "Do you mean that?"

"I do." Dia hugged the red-head, surprising everyone. "You just have to give it some time."

"Thank you." Maki said. The three bowed as they left, which only left Maki, Nozomi, Eli, and Arisa.

"Are you okay, Maki-senpai?" Arisa asked.

Maki took a deep breath. "No…not really. Breaking up with the best person I've ever been with isn't good, you know?" She stood up and started to walk away. The three other girls started to follow her, but Maki stopped them by putting her hand out. "Please. I need to be alone right now."

"…Okay…" The three watched Maki leave with her head hung low.

"I guess that's what the cards meant…" Nozomi said. She wasn't trying to make a joke about this. All she could think about was the "Pain" card she drew from her deck.

' _That's…all the pain…right?'_

…

"Thank you for driving me home," Riko said to You and Chika.

"It's alright. Anytime," You said. The ride to Riko's home was filled with a tense silence. After seeing the break-up happen, the two girls didn't want to say anything insensitive. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'll just drive myself. I don't want to bother you too much."

"Riko-chan, you aren't bothering us," Chika said from the back.

Riko smiled from her friend's insistence. "Thanks."

Riko opened the door to-

"Are you okay, Riko-chan?" Chika asked. Looking back, she saw You's disappointing glare at Chika and was faced with You's sympathetic one. Looking at Chika, she saw the orange-haired girl's expression; a mix of awkwardness and concern.

"I'm not." Before her friends could say anything else, she quickly left the car and slammed the door. All she wanted was to be alone, and hopefully her friends could understand that. She walked quickly back to her apartment and slammed the door shut, not caring if anyone was annoyed.

She holed herself up in her bedroom, not wanting to deal with anyone or anything. She opened her laptop and searched 'How to get over someone.'

Some things she was reading seemed obvious. 'Listen to music', 'cry', 'talk to friends'. Those seemed like things like Riko would have done already. Two of the ideas looked interesting.

'Write in a journal' was one of the ideas. Looking in her room, all she had was her school books and some sheet music. Reaching over to the sheets, she could only think of one thing. _'Writing music…is like a journal, right?'_

It was the last one that Riko had mixed feelings over. _'Just forget her? Delete pictures, contacts, everything about her?'_ The important things in her life just so happened to involve Maki. With her piano playing, she made her and Maki's concert song. _'That's too much to throw away. It's my best work.'_

Her phone wasn't much help either. Looking through her pictures, it was filled with her and Maki's dates. Everything that revolved around Riko's first relationship was something that she didn't want to let go. But…Maki missing the concert, Maki trying to replace one of the most important days of their relationships, breaking her promise to be there for her…it's for the best. If Maki wasn't able to be there for her when she needed her to, they would drift apart eventually. _'Okay, I'll just delete them all. I can't dwell on this for so long.'_

She chose every picture of her and Maki together and hovered her finger over the delete button. Pressing it once, the confirm box popped up.

 _ **DING! DONG!**_

Before she could say yes, her doorbell rang, surprising her. She put the phone in her pocket and went to the door. Looking through the peephole, she saw Chika's concerned face, and You was right behind her. She sighed. _'I guess they didn't get the hint.'_

"Chika-chan, You-chan," Riko said as she opened the door, "I don't want to be bothered right now."

"We can't leave you like this, Riko-chan," Chika said bluntly. They may be confronting her, but Riko wanted to be alone right now.

"I don't know what-"

"I told Chika-chan to leave you alone," You interrupted, "But, she's right. This is rough, Riko-chan. You cannot do it alone."

"Yes, I can!" Riko retorted. However, she couldn't keep up her strong façade for long. "I…I can…" Before she knew it, she started to cry. Thankfully, Chika and You were there to help comfort her.

"Riko-chan, we're friends. Talk to us, don't hold it in," Chika said. Riko nodded, and the three of them went over to the couch.

"It hurt…when I saw her **after** I preformed."

"But," You said in a small voice, not wanting to assume things, "Was it that important? Can't you play it for her again?"

"No!" Riko said loudly. "It's completely different, You-chan! That song…it was for us…and I wanted to show it off to everyone! But…she couldn't even keep her promise…"

"Promise? But-" You was interrupted by a disapproving Chika. It was clear that the orange-haired girl was the best person to handle Riko's feelings, so You kept silent.

"What was Maki-san's promise?"

"She…she wouldn't miss my concert."

"Hmm," Chika hummed as she stroked Riko's hair. It was what helped her be calm, so she figured that it would help her friend. "And you can't play it for her again, right?"

Riko shook her head. "It was the last concert I would perform at. I needed competitions for school, so I was going to focus on that. I could have played it for her alone but…this was…special…"

Riko started to sob again, so Chika started to rub Riko's back. "Shh, I know. Do you still love her?"

"Of course I do! It's just…if she couldn't keep this promise, what would make me think that she would care enough about me?"

"I understand," Chika said. She felt like she was treating Riko like a young girl, but she felt like it was the best way to talk to her right now. "Let this pass, Riko-chan. Maybe it's better that you broke up. You two can have time to think things over and make up." She felt Riko's head nod. "For now, we're here for you. Until we have to leave, you won't be alone."

"You…you don't have to care-"

"Yes, we do, Riko-chan." Chika said. "We always care about our friends."

Riko nodded. She couldn't contain her emotions and started to wail again. But just like Chika said, Riko didn't have to deal with this alone.

…

"Are you sure you'll be okay, Riko-chan?" You asked.

The red-head smiled. "For now. Thanks for staying."

"It was no problem," Chika said, "You needed someone to talk to."

"I did."

Riko was waving at her friends, and she heard Chika say: "Call us if you need to talk!"

' _It's…nice to have them.'_

* * *

It's been nearly a week since the concert, and Riko was feeling better as each day passed. She still felt crappy, but it was manageable. She has been keeping up with her studies, but she felt overwhelmed by the math and sciences. She dropped those courses and worked harder on piano playing and cooking. She started to enjoy cooking and saw herself being a chef in the future.

She had a free day since her assignments were near-finished. She was still feeling a bit of heartbreak so she decided to follow one of the ideas she found.

'Indulge yourself.'

As she was driving, she was planning what to treat herself with.

' _Ice cream sounds good. I'll avoid anything with tomatoes. I don't want to remind myself of Maki-chan. Maybe a nice sandwich. I'll prepare some steak. Hopefully, it's on sale today. What else? Maybe-'_


	10. Chapter 9

Maki was quickly walking to the emergency room with another doctor beside her. She got some traces of information about the accident. There were two people involved in a car crash. One of them had some injuries, but they didn't sustain too much damage.

Opening the door to the emergency room, she saw the other injured person lying on the medical table. However, the body looked…eerily familiar. Particularly, the hair.

' _It's that same colour…no, it…it can't be. Just focus on the patient.'_

She was told that the patient had broken bones around the chest area, damaged limbs, and had some damage to her head. It was rough, but it looked very likely that she would live.

She was preparing the girl for the surgery, but it was making her mind foggy.

' _R-Riko-chan…it is you…'_

Maki was shaken by seeing Riko in this damaged state, but she couldn't let it overtake her.

' _She's a patient, just like any other. You need to save her.'_

…

After a few hours, Riko's surgery was done. Unfortunately, the damage to her head was bad enough for her brain to start swelling. Fortunately, the swelling wasn't extreme. So, the girl was put into a medically induced coma so the swelling would subside. The other injuries were marginal in comparison to that; some fractured bones and a broken arm was some of the other injuries.

Riko was lying in a new room as Maki was tending to her. Right after the surgery, Maki contacted Riko's mother. She was obviously worried about her daughter, but Maki tried to assure her that Riko would be okay and urged her to come to the hospital.

As she waited for Riko's mother, she stayed in the room with her ex's body. _'God…I hate saying that. All I needed to do was put her first for just one day, and I couldn't even do that right.'_

Everything from the past week was a blur after doing Riko's surgery. However, it all came rushing back after Maki was sitting silently in Riko's room.

On the first day after her break-up, she was a mess. She took a day off (unlike how she didn't for Riko's concert) to adjust herself. She was the reason the person she loved broke up with her, and it stuck with her for the entire week. She asked Eli to get the video of Riko's performance. Once she did, she took the day off to learn as much as she could by ear. It was tough as it was a very complicated piece, but she was able to get a quarter of it. Playing it made Maki see how much technique and heart Riko put into this song, and how it was for nothing.

The only people that she could feel comfortable talking to was Eli and Nozomi, since they were the only people she knew that actually attended the concert. They tried to assure Maki that she tried her best to go to Riko's concert, but it only made her feel guiltier.

' _I never deserved someone so beautiful, talented, polite, and loving.'_ It was obvious that she still loved Riko. When she got together with Nozomi and Eli, all she could talk about was how much Riko affected her life. How Riko didn't deserve an awful person like Maki. And she could only blame herself because she was the reason for everything happening to the two of them.

In her mind, Riko got into this accident because of the break-up. Maybe she wasn't focused on driving because she couldn't think straight. It was the only thoughts that crept into her mind.

After about two hours, Mrs. Sakurauchi came to Riko's room. She was out of breath; Maki knew it was to see her daughter as fast as she could.

"Dr. Nishikino…is she…here…?" Riko's mother asked in-between breaths.

"Yes, she's resting here." Maki motioned her hand to the sleeping girl. Mrs. Sakurauchi went over to her daughter and looked at the lying body.

She reached and touched Riko's arm and her cheek. "It's…real…My little girl..."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Sakurauchi," Maki said.

"Do you know what happened? How she got this way?"

"Not really, unfortunately." Maki went to Riko's other side and stroked away a lock of hair from Riko's face. "Her brain started to swell, but we caught it fast. She should be okay, but she will be out for a few days. It may even be weeks before her brain stops swelling."

Ms. Sakurauchi wiped her tears away, trying to be strong during this tough time. "It's really not that bad? She'll be okay?"

"It is bad, to be blunt. It's just that her case could have been much more severe. Looking at everything, as long as she relaxes here her healing should go smoothly." The mother sadly nodded when she heard the news. The doctor took Riko's hand in her own, and her tears started to fall. _'It's only been a week since I've seen you…and I've never stopped loving you but...to see you like this…'_

"Dr. Nishikino?" Riko's mother looked at the red-head in confusion. However, she was starting to connect the dots as to why Maki was so close with the daughter.

Hearing her name made her turn her head to see a confused woman staring at her. _'I shouldn't be touching her daughter like this!'_ Maki quickly released Riko's hand, wiped her tears and tried to hide her blush by turning away. "S-Sorry. Please excuse-"

"Nishikino Maki?"

"Y-Yes…?"

Riko's mother sighed after getting the somewhat confused agreement. "You were dating my daughter, correct?"

"…Um…" Maki could only stay silent as she heard those words. _'She knows about our relationship? Wait…she said 'were'…'_ Maki slowly nodded. "Yes, I was dating Riko-chan. You…knew about us? And…our break-up?"

"Yes, I heard all about it," Mrs. Sakurauchi said.

"Oh…" Maki deflated. _'So, she knows I broke her daughter's heart.'_

"I want to thank you." Maki's head shot up and her face scrunched in confusion. "Thank you for being with Riko. Whenever she called me to talk about you two, she was so happy."

"That's great to hear," Maki said. She felt even worse knowing that Riko couldn't stop gushing about her. _'Ruining something so great. Good job, Maki. You're so great.'_ Maki bowed to Riko's mother. "I want to thank you for raising such an amazing daughter. She was one of the best things to happen in my life, despite how short our relationship was." Maki took a seat and gazed out the window. "You shouldn't be thanking me anyways. I broke your daughter's heart because of my selfishness."

Maki heard Mrs. Sakurauchi sigh. "I heard the story…it's not entirely your fault, Maki-chan."

"Of course it is," Maki said sternly, "If I could have just done the work sooner, or just told them to leave it for later…it's all my fault! I had all the power to change it and I…just didn't."

"Fine, that is on you." Maki was surprised with the sudden shift in tone in Mrs. Sakurauchi's voice. "But…I can see why Riko is to blame as well, as much as I hate to say. She's been always low in confidence, and she puts a lot of trust into someone she connects with. **Too** much trust. I heard her say that you called her promise 'stupid'."

Maki flinched from hearing that again. She never meant that it was stupid; it was just something she said in the heat of their argument.

Riko's mother continued. "While saying something like a promise is stupid is hurtful, I can see that Riko overreacted. She told me that breaking up was the best thing to do, but I know that she still loves you." Maki felt a hand on her shoulder. "You two just have to work things out. You should try and make her happy. But, she shouldn't put all of her trust onto you."

Maki chuckled. "No wonder you're a mom. That…helped a lot."

"Guilty as charged," Mrs. Sakurauchi bantered back. "I want to see my daughter happy, and I know you will be the reason for it, Maki-chan. If not as a girlfriend, at least as a friend."

"You trust me that much?" Maki asked.

Riko's mother nodded. "You are her doctor, after all. Just…make sure she'll be okay."

"I promise." It felt risky to say, but Maki would not let this promise fail. She loved Riko too much to see her go away so soon, and she knew that Riko's mother did as well.

* * *

Three days have passed since Riko's accident, but she was recovering well. She was still in her coma, but the swelling had subsided considerably. And Maki was always with her to make sure she was okay.

It seemed biased to only be tending to Riko. However, there wasn't too much happening right now in the hospital. So, she asked the other doctors to only call on her when there was an emergency. Riko's health was one of the more concerning ones throughout the hospital, so there was a reason for Maki to be around her so much. She even stayed overnight with her, making sure Riko was okay.

' _Terrible reasoning…but I made a promise. And I'm not breaking it.'_

Right now, Maki was doing the normal routine of taking care of Riko. Checking vitals, and the occasional washing.

 _ **KNOCK!**_

"Maki-chan?" The red-head turned around to see her energetic best friend at the door.

"Rin?" She was surprised to see Rin being so restrained. "What are you doing here?" She was expecting to be tackled anytime now, but Rin had her hands behind her back.

"We haven't talked in a while. Do you have time right now?" Rin asked.

"Uh, yeah. We'll just have to talk here."

Rin was shaking in her spot. "Can…I hug Maki-chan, nya?"

' _There's the girl I know.'_ Maki sighed, but had a smile on her face. "Yes, just be very care- Oof!"

"Yay!" In the matter of seconds, Rin had her arms wrapped around Maki's waist. How Rin didn't knock anything over was beyond the red-head. "Maki-chan!" Rin excitedly said in a hushed tone.

"I'm sorry we haven't talked so much, Rin." Maki said as she returned the hug. _'If Rin is here…that must mean…'_

She heard a sigh come from the door. "Rin-chan. You couldn't control yourself just this once? We're in a hospital!"

' _There she is.'_ Maki intervened before Rin got upset. "Umi, it's okay. As long as she didn't destroy anything, it's fine."

"Destroy? I'm not that careless, nya!" Rin pouted, causing the three girls to laugh. "It's nice to see you, Maki-chan!"

"And it's nice to see you again, Rin. And Umi." Maki bowed as much as she could with Rin's arms gripped around her.

"Same to you, Maki-chan." Umi bowed in response. The bluenette looked at the bed which Riko was lying on. "So, this is Riko-chan."

Rin let go of her hug as Maki turned to the bed. The red-head sighed as she took a hold of Riko's hand. "Yeah. I guess you heard from Nozomi."

Rin nodded. "Are you okay, Maki-chan?"

"I don't know…" Maki admitted. "First, we broke up because of me. And now…this."

"What happened?" Umi asked. "If it's okay to tell us."

Thankfully, Maki got consent from Riko's mother to tell people what happened with Riko. She was surprised that Mrs. Sakurauchi trusted Maki's friends, but the older woman knew about Muse through her daughter. And if Riko could befriend some people from a popular group, she had a feeling that all of Muse could be trusted.

"Yes, it's okay. She got into a car accident. She suffered some brain damage which caused swelling to her brain. We've put her into a coma, so she'll be out for a while. But, it's been three days, and she's been recovering well," Maki explained.

"That's good," Umi said. "To be honest, you look pretty tired right now, Maki-chan."

The red-head sighed. "I've been staying overnight with her. She's in the most serious condition throughout the hospital right now. So, it's good to watch over her."

"All night, nya? So, you've been here since yesterday?" Rin asked.

"No, I've been with her since the accident."

"You've been with her for three days?" Umi said.

Maki blushed. Hearing it out loud made it seem much worse. "How obvious is it that I'm still in love with her?"

"Very," Umi said.

"I don't want to hear it from you, Umi. You can still barely kiss Honoka without getting flustered."

"…"

' _Got her,'_ Maki thought to herself.

"Maki-chan, you do look totally in love," Rin admitted. Hearing that made Maki feel defeated.

"I knew it…" Maki sighed and took a seat. A sandwich was being held in her face. Looking up, she saw a warm smile on Umi's face.

"I don't know if you've eaten. But, take it. You've done well."

Almost on cue, Maki's stomach growled. Maki nervously chuckled while Rin and Umi giggled at Maki's embarrassment. "Thanks."

"Maki-chan," Umi started to say, "You seem embarrassed about wanting to like Riko-chan again."

"It's not that I'm embarrassed. Riko's mother told me that it seems like she still loves me. And I'm insanely in love with her. It's just…"

"You're afraid to hurt her again, nya?" Rin asked innocently.

However, the orange-haired girl's innocent statement was spot on. Maki nodded. "Riko's mother said that Riko may have overreacted and was too rash to break up with me. But…I can't help but feel like it's entirely my fault. I wasn't there for her when she wanted me to be. I couldn't keep a promise."

"Maki-chan!" Rin suddenly said, startling both Maki and Umi.

"R-Rin?"

"This isn't the Maki-chan I know, nya!"

"Rin-chan," Umi said, "I don't know if you-"

"No, Umi-chan! You know that Maki-chan isn't being herself." Rin took a hold of Maki's hands. "Maki-chan, you're always so confident, nya. Right now, you aren't the same person I know."

"Rin. I'm not feeling up to argue with you."

"Then listen to me, Maki-chan. Riko-chan's mom said that it's not entirely your fault. But, you're making yourself think that it is. That isn't the Maki-chan I know, and you know it too."

Rin's surprising words of wisdom really struck a chord with Maki. _'Rin's right. I'm not being myself right now. I'm doing the opposite of what Riko did. Instead of trusting someone so much, I'm not trusting myself enough.'_

"M-Maki-chan…I-I didn't mean to make you cry, nya." Rin went over and lightly hugged Maki.

"Rin…it's okay. I…I need to thank you, really." Rin was right, Maki was starting to tear up. She wiped her tears into her sleeves. "I still have to keep my promise to Riko's mother. And…I want to only hope that she was right. I want to be with Riko again, and I want to make it right. For me. And for her."

"That's the Maki-chan I know, nya!" Rin rubbed her cheek with Maki's. Maki wanted to push Rin away (which was her natural reflex), but she couldn't help but let her best friend rub her cheek. It was comforting.

"No wonder Honoka-chan put you as the temporary leader." Umi said. "You both make people inspired."

Rin smiled brightly, which seemed to brighten the whole room. "Thanks, Umi-chan!"

Maki lightly laughed and then looked back to Riko and smiled. _'I want to make up, Riko. I can only hope you will let me.'_


	11. Chapter 10

"RIKO-CHAN!" Chika called out, waking Maki from her small nap. Looking up at the door, she saw the group of girls crowding around. Chika had her hands covering her mouth; her expression said, 'I can't believe this is actually real.'

"Hey, don't make too much of a scene. Come inside," Maki said sternly, but groggily. The eight girls walked in, with Chika rushing over to Riko's bedside.

"Maki-san," Chika said as she sniffled, "is…is Riko-chan going to be…alright?" Chika was struggling to keep her composure. Everyone else was also worried for Riko's health as well. However, the bond that she and their leader shared was something very special. It only makes sense that the people with the closest bonds with Riko would be talking about her.

"I know you are worried, Chika-chan." Maki placed a hand on the orange-haired girl's shoulder. "She's going to be okay. The damage to her brain, while somewhat concerning at first, has gotten much better. The swelling has gone down considerably, and she should be waking up soon. I'm predicting that she'll be out of the coma by the end of the month."

"That's so far away," Chika said as she kept her attention on her red-headed friend.

It was a bit overexaggerated, but she wasn't wrong. Her talk with Riko's mother, Umi, and Rin was about a week and a half ago. "I don't mean to be rude, but why have you guys only been here today? I thought you would have been here on the first day."

"Well, we were supposed to," You replied. "Chika was the first one to hear about Riko's accident. She told all of us, but we all had pretty busy schedules. I had a swim meet, but coach told me to take off a few days when I told her about what happened."

"Maru-chan was on a break, so we were in the studio making music. We were wondering why Riko-chan hasn't been around, and we only learned because of Chika-chan."

"My father let me take as many days off as I wanted to. The shop was quieting down because it was getting a bit too cold for people to swim. So, that helped, I guess."

"Mari and I had some business meetings coming up, but we pushed them back. If they tried to make us meet now, we told them that we would be breaking our partnership with them. It would be their loss, anyways."

"There was a big tournament coming up, and my organization was really pushing me to attend. Once I heard the news about Lily, I told them that I couldn't go. She might have been skeptical of my career, and she may have called it 'childish'…but **only** this time was she right!"

There was a chorus of light giggles from Yoshiko's story coming from the room. Even in a depressing situation, the Fallen Angel knew how to liven the room. Even if it was only for a second.

"How about you, Chika-chan? I know you have classes and other things," Maki asked.

The orange-haired girl nodded as she was still watching Riko. She was hoping that Riko would be awake soon. "I finished all of my assignments and readings once I heard about Riko-chan. I wanted all of us to be here for Riko-chan. We're a group, and it's nice to wake up and to see all of your friends around you."

Maki dryly chuckled at hearing that. "'Friend,' huh. I don't even think I can be that to her anymore." She sat in the same chair she's been in for a while and stared out the window.

Those words dragged You and Chika's attention away from Riko and onto Maki. "Maki-san, you can't say that," You bluntly said. "Of course you're still a friend to her."

"Huh?" Maki turned her head to see You and Chika (she took some time to remember the names of all the girls from Aqours. She knew that they would be coming to see Riko) walking over to her. "You all saw our break-up. Her mother said that she still loves me, but that's all a lie-"

"It was not!" Chika grabbed Maki by the shoulders. "She's never stopped loving you! She only broke up with you because she felt it was the best decision. You are both busy people, and it's hard to work out everything so you can be happy together while keeping up with your work. But if you guys can learn to handle that, you will both be back together in no time!"

The words she was listening to was so familiar and so comforting. Just like something Honoka would say. "Do you mean that?"

"That's not the first time you said that to one of us," Dia spoke up to respond, which caught Maki's attention. "I know Chika means it. And so do I. You guys just have to get on the same level. Talk about what went wrong. When Riko wakes up, we'll all be here. And we'll support you two, no matter what happens."

"Do-"

"And yes," Dia interrupted the doctor, "We mean it."

Maki smiled at the girls. "Thanks. Riko…has some good friends."

"And you do as well," Chika said, "You have us!"

"What?"

"You were able to be friends with Riko-chan, zura," Hanamaru said. "And Ruby-chan and I knew of you because of Nico-chan and Honoka-chan."

"And a lot of us are fans of Muse," Kanan said, being the voice of reason to help Maki. "If we aren't, we would just be happy to get to know you." Maki saw the two girls that were unfamiliar with Muse nod (You and Yoshiko).

"That's good to hear." Maki relaxed herself in the chair and almost dozed off. She kept herself awake, as she had to tend to the other girls in the room. "Now that I feel a lot better, now what?"

"Well," Chika said, "We were planning to stay in Akihabara for at least a week. I was planning to stay with Riko-chan until she woke up-"

"Chika, you have classes." Kanan interjected.

"Jeez, Kanan-chan. I know, I just want to be with her."

"I don't think you need to worry about being with her, Chikachi," Mari said to her orange-haired friend. "Dia, Kanan, and I will be here."

"We should be able to stay as well, zura," Hanamaru said, motioning to herself and Ruby.

"Aww!" Chika crossed her arms and pouted. "I wanted to be by Riko-chan when she woke up, but I can't now!"

"Hey, Yoshiko and I can't be here with her as well," You told her childhood friend, "We all have classes. I'll be sure to drive us all back here when we are able to."

"I…I guess…"

"And besides, there is someone much more important that'll be by Riko-chan's side." You smiled, which made Chika remember about the red-head doctor.

"Right!" Her energy seemed to come back to her as Chika stood up and held Maki's hands. "I'm resting Riko-chan's safe recovery to you, Maki-san!"

"Wasn't I already doing that?" Maki asked.

"Y-Yes, but you are the-"

"Chika," Dia said, interrupting the Aqours leader, "She gets what you mean. You're just adding more pressure on her. Stop that."

"Sorry, Dia-san."

"Please don't worry about anything, Maki-san. You just keep being the good doctor that you are and just help the girl we all love."

Maki smiled. "I will."

The rest of the day was uneventful. To be honest, the weekend while Aqours was with Riko was uneventful. Since there wasn't too much to do at the hospital, the room of girls resorted to talking amongst one another. Some alleviation came in the form of Eli, Nozomi, and Arisa. Even Umi and Rin came to the room. It was crowded, but Maki made it work so that she could tend to Riko and converse with the other occupants. From Maki's point of view, the people with similar personalities (according to her) all grouped up together. The people with the calmest composures (at least when Umi isn't panicking at small types of affection) were talking, with Kanan and Umi talking. Although she was younger, Kanan seemed to have a smooth charm to her, which was making Umi blush. The younger bluenette probably couldn't even see how suave she was being. Mari was talking with Nozomi. She was a bit afraid as she saw the two of them as the most devious people in the room, but she figured that it would be harmless. For now. Rin, Yoshiko, and Chika were all talking. The three energetic/eccentric girls talking wasn't a big surprise to her. The last four girls seemed to be talking about Hanamaru's idol career. Made sense; Hanamaru and Ruby knew the ins and outs of being a full-fledged idol, Arisa was a huge fan of idols, and You was the girl to go with the flow.

This left the red-headed doctor with Dia and Eli. To be honest, it was the best possible outcome. Eli always seemed like a second mother to her, and Dia was very nice when she was talking with Maki before.

"Are you not going to freak out this time, Dia?" Eli teasingly said. It's been a while since the Aqours girls met the ones from Muse. Maki and Riko's break-up didn't make them pick sides; however, it just seemed that it was comfortable to be with the ones you knew for a while.

Dia crossed her arms and huffed. "I thought you were more mature, Eli-san. It's not my fault that you're my favourite member…wait, that doesn't make sense…" Both Eli and Maki giggled at the black-haired girl's confusion.

"She freaked out before?" Maki asked.

"Yeah, at the…concert…" Eli said, but started to trail off. It has been a couple of weeks since then, so it was a bit of a sensitive subject.

"Of course, at the concert." Maki sighed. "I missed that, just like I missed everything else." She sat in the familiar chair that she has been sitting at for almost two weeks and reached for her water.

"Maki-san, are you really still like this?" Dia asked worriedly. Even after the talk with her friends and giving their blessing, Maki was still acting like a depressed mess. "We've given you assurance; you don't have to feel so guilty."

"I know," Maki exasperatedly said. "It's just…I'm always going to know that it was mostly me that made us break up. Yes, Riko has some fault as well, but it's just screaming at me that it's all my fault. Even if I get past that, I don't even know if Riko would forgive me. Her mom said she's so trusting, but I don't even think she could trust me after what I put her through."

As Maki took a long sip of her water, Dia and Eli shared a look of concern. Their stares were fighting as to who would talk to Maki first. Eli expected herself to win, but the innocent eyes of Dia made her submit.

The blonde sighed. "Maki, you've been doing this to yourself for such a while now. You have to stop blaming yourself for everything. No one has any ill will against you."

"I understand that, Eli. But, that won't help me through this. I want to make up with her. I want to **be** with her so, so much. There's just this nagging feeling that's telling me 'no.' I don't know what to do about it, and I don't think I can be convinced otherwise."

Eli hung her head. She had a creeping suspicion that Maki would just hole herself up, and it was true. "Your turn," she whispered into Dia's ear.

She didn't notice the shiver that was sent down Dia. Despite having a girlfriend, having your literal idol whisper to you seemed too good to be true. She recovered quickly, as she had a bigger problem to attend to. Making Maki open up.

"Dia, I appreciate the attempt to cheer me up or whatever." Maki saw the black-haired girl walking over to her, and started to stop her. "I don't think it's going to w-"

"Maki Nishikino. Talented singer, dancer, pianist, doctor. In Muse, you were always the one who looked the most confident. You had an elegance to you that was unrivaled by anyone. Your attitude was brutally honest, but you always had a sense of truth and confidence in the words you said."

"I…"

"Looking at you now, I'm surprised that I can give you even a small chance to be with Riko-chan again."

Eli's eyes widened when Dia said those words. Maki thought that Dia's slew of words was going to somewhere that would give her some confidence. But, that was quickly proven wrong as she got the worst insult she could hear right now.

Maki steadily, but angrily started to speak. "What makes-"

"It's true that Riko-chan trusted you a bit too much. And with how you are right now, I can tell that it was a big mistake. You have none of that confidence that you exuded while in Muse. You're putting yourself down, and it disgusts me. Someone who always was so truthful can't even be true to herself. I can't believe that I even looked up to you."

Maki gripped the arm rests of the chair, almost leaving dents. _'How could she just turn her personality arou-'_

"I asked you to be the one to help Riko-chan because we all love her. But if I was her, I wouldn't want you even close to me."

Eli cringed when Maki roughly pushed herself out of the chair and angrily glared at Dia. But, there was a good reason to do so. Dia did cross a big line.

"Listen here, you stuck-up brat." Maki venomously said. She wasn't one to express her anger often. But, Dia telling her that Riko would hate her after everything she's heard that was the complete opposite. That was the trigger. "I'm doing my damn best to help your friend. And not just **your** friend, but my true love. I might put myself down, but it's to protect myself from people like you."

The rest of the girls saw the commotion starting and rushed over to stop it. However, Eli held them back. _'God, Dia. You really screwed yourself here.'_

"A girl who seems so nice on the outside, but is ready to strike and use anything and everything to make someone feel awful. What a good friend to have. That isn't going to work on me, got it?! I love her with all of my heart, more than anyone. You, Chika, even her own mother can't compare to the love I have for her! And for you to insult me because you can't see that. **You** disgust **me.** I'll love her when she's out of this damn coma, and I'm going to put my hardest effort to make her love me again. It may take a few days or a few years. But I'll make sure that you'll never be able to say those words to me ever again. And that's me being truthful."

This confrontation made Dia's back hit a wall, and Maki was towering over her. Dia's eyes stared into Maki's angry violets. The black-haired girl gulped, but poked Maki in the chest. "That's what I wanted to hear."

"…"

"What?" Maki asked. The whole room was stunned from hearing Dia's words after Maki was finished talking, including the doctor.

"I wanted to hear those words from you. Riko-chan always had so much trust in you, but in **this** you. She wouldn't trust you if she saw you acting like how you were before. You were acting too much like herself; self-pitying, depressed, isolated. She needed to open up to us, just like you needed to. She wants this Maki back. The one that she fell in love with. And I want her to be with you as well. After you smooth out everything that went wrong; after you can split up your time to be with her and your work; after she learns to have faith in herself and to split that with you, I can assure you that there won't be any more problems. And yes, I do mean it."

Maki was trembling as she held Dia's shoulders. Her mouth was dry, probably because all of the water was in her eyes. She was streaming tears and she could barely stand up. She couldn't say anything, so she instead collapsed onto Dia and cried her lungs out. All the while, Dia was there patting her back and giving her assurance.

' _I can't believe that worked,' Eli thought. 'All she needed was to hear how we see her right now. Just so she could have confidence. It was a harsh reality check but…You're a genius, Dia.'_

The two stayed like that for a while, with the rest of the girls watching them.

"Is Maki-chan okay, nya?" Rin timidly asked Eli.

The blonde had a small smile. "She will be. She needed something like that."

After about 45 minutes, Maki seemed to settle down. Dia led her to the familiar chair, and pushed her a bit closer to Riko.

"Thanks…Dia. I wasn't being myself, even with how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise." Maki said.

"It's no problem. I want Riko to be with someone I could consider the best for her. The way you were acting…it would have ended badly, I feel." Dia said. "No offense."

Maki slightly smiled. "None taken."

As Dia took a step away from the chair, she fell to her knees as she put a hand to her mouth.

"Dia!" Mari quickly rushed over to her girlfriend's side. "What's wrong?"

"Saying all that stuff to Maki-san, and then having her scream everything to me…I'm not really feeling too good." Dia shakily said. "Can…we got to the washroom…for a bit?"

"Of course!" The blonde helped Dia to her feet and walked over to the washroom. The sounds coming from there weren't pretty, but Dia deserved it.

"All it took for you to break out of your shell was someone to insult you that much, huh?" Eli said.

Maki took a hold of one of the bed-ridden girl's hands and gripped it tightly. "I guess so. Sorry for being…well, that."

"It's okay. You had your reasons." Eli said. "Just…be more confident. You are both at fault, but you have to accept it and not shut yourself off because of it. We're here for you if you need someone to talk to."

"Yeah. I get that now. Thanks." Maki looked at her ex-girlfriend, but smiled. _'If what they said is true, you'll make me the happiest girl alive. If it isn't, I'm going to hope that you'll forgive me. And we'll make us work out.'_


	12. Chapter 11

"… _she puts a lot of trust into someone she connects with._ _ **Too**_ _much trust."_

 _Mom…you don't mean that, do you?_

 _Maybe I do…_

"… _I know that she still loves you."_

 _Of course I love Maki-chan. I told you that._

" _I've been staying overnight with her…since the accident."_

 _Accident? I was in an accident? And…why would Maki-chan be with me?_

" _You're afraid to hurt her again, nya?"_

 _I don't want to hurt her either._

" _Friend, huh. I don't even think I can be that to her anymore."_

 _Maki-chan, I don't want to be friends. I want to love you so much. We'll always be friends._

" _You are both busy people…But if you guys can learn to handle that, you will be back together in no time!"_

 _Chika-chan is right! I want to be with you again, Maki-chan!_

" _...I don't even know if Riko would forgive me."_

 _I would, Maki-chan!_

" _I'm surprised that I can give you even a small chance to be with Riko-chan again…You're putting yourself down, and it disgusts me...But if I was her, I wouldn't want you even close to me."_

 _Dia-san! How could you just say all of that to her? Maki-chan is so much better than that!_

" _I love her with all of my heart, more than anyone. You, Chika, even her own mother can't compare to the love I have for her…I'm going to put my hardest effort to make her love me again."_

 _Maki-chan…you don't have to put in that much effort. I love you already. And… you show Dia-san!_

" _That's what I wanted to hear…"_

 _Dia? What do you mean?_

" _You were acting too much like herself: self-pitying, depressed, isolated."_

 _I'm really like that?_

"… _I want her to be with you as well. After you smooth out everything that went wrong…after she learns to have faith in herself and to split that with you, I can assure you that there won't be any problems. And yes, I do mean it."_

 _You said all those things just to have Maki-chan tell you guys everything. No wonder you were the student council president, Dia-san._

 _Dia-san is right. I have to trust myself. I can't rely on Maki-chan so much._

 _Maki-chan. We made mistakes. But, I want to make up with you._

 _I want to talk about everything. I want us to fix what went wrong and make it better._

 _I want to be together again._

* * *

It was nearing the end of the month, and Riko was recovering incredibly well. As Maki observed her brain, there was almost no sign of swelling. _'I think I kept this promise. You'll get better very soon, Riko.'_

Maki couldn't stay in Riko's room as more and more people started to come into the hospital. Thankfully, she had the help of most of the Aqours members. Since Riko's recovery was going well, there wasn't too much to take care of. So, she told the five girls to just watch over Riko and take care of her needs. Things like baths were taken care of by Hanamaru and Ruby. The oldest girls also assisted in taking care of Riko's body. They were also responsible for checking over Riko's vitals and to call when there was an emergency (despite how low the possibility of something going wrong was).

On a normal day of being with Riko, Hanamaru and Ruby were doing their normal job of washing the red-head.

"Hey, Maru-chan," Ruby said from one side of the bed.

"What is it, Ruby-chan?" Hanamaru replied.

"Are you going to be excited when Riko-san wakes up?"

It was a weird question, Hanamaru thought. "I'll be happy when she does, zura."

"Me too! I'm excited because we'll be able to work together again!" Ruby excitedly said. "It been a while since we've been able to talk to Riko-san, let alone work with her."

"You're right, zura! We'll be able to make new music with Riko-san's amazing piano playing, zura!" Hanamaru felt Ruby's energy flow into her. Once Riko woke up and had time to rest, the three girls would be back to having fun and writing music again.

"You two sound excited. I guess it will be fun when you can write music again, huh?" Kanan said to the two girls. They both happily nodded.

"How could you not be, Kanan?!" Mari said. "She's been asleep for so long; how could Riko-chan not be excited to do things again?!"

Kanan giggled and patted Mari's head. "I know. We'll have a big feast when she's awake." The sweet interaction was interrupted by her phone buzzing. "That's Chika's eighteenth message. I know that we're close to the end of the month, but she's been like this since the past week."

"It makes sense," Dia interjected, "Riko is Chika's best friend, after all. It's only natural for her to be anxious. Riko could wake up anytime, it's just a matter of when."

"Right, right. I'm just getting a bit tired that only I'm getting the messages. She really hasn't talked to any of you? She has your numbers, right?"

The room laughed, but the five girls felt like they were hearing a new voice. After their hesitant laughter died down, they heard a small cough and a pained laugh. Looking to the bed, everyone's eyes opened wide.

"That's…just like…Chika-chan…" Riko said, her voice was coarse and pained.

The whole room was speechless.

' _Riko's awake. Riko is AWAKE!'_

The first person to recover from their shock was Dia. "Kanan…tell Chika and them that…Riko is awake. Don't forget to tell Chika to tell Riko's mother. I'll…tell Maki-san. You three…stay with her."

"Hai," the four others managed to say.

Dia and Kanan went outside; Kanan slowly started to message Chika while Dia went around and looked for Maki. She forgot that Maki told her to call instead. The shock of Riko waking up made Dia think that telling her in person would be better. _'This doesn't count as an emergency, right?'_

Meanwhile, the three other girls could only stare at Riko. The newly awoken girl was getting a bit worried that her friends were just sitting there.

"Umm, hi," was all Riko managed to say.

The three girls started to cry, with Hanamaru and Ruby carefully hugging Riko. The bed-ridden girl was about to wrap her arms around the two girls, but she felt a sharp pain in her right arm.

"C-Careful, Riko-chan!" Mari worriedly said. "You hurt your arm in the accident."

"Oh, okay." Riko was reminded of what happened. She remembered that she was in her car and the light turned green, and then she saw darkness. There was a lot of pain that she was reminded of; a pounding headache, pained breaths, and her right arm feeling numb. Thankfully, that numbness went away, but it still hurt a ton. "How long has it been since the accident?"

Mari used her fingers to figure out the math. "About a month."

"A month?!" Riko exclaimed. "Was it really that bad?" She felt Ruby and Hanamaru's grip tighten.

"It was, Riko-san." Hanamaru said through her tears. "You could have died!"

"D-Died?"

"It was bad at the start, Riko-chan." Mari started to tell her the situation. "Your brain started swelling since you hit your head. Maki-san said that you would be okay, since they caught the swelling early. But, you don't have to worry about that now." Mari started to walk over and gently hugged Riko. "You're back. And no one could be happier. Just relax for now, Riko-chan. Chikachi, your mother and everyone else are coming soon."

Instead of saying anything, Riko relaxed into the warmth of the hugs. _'They're right. I'm awake now. And I can be with all of my friends.'_

…

"I'm sorry, I don't know where Nishikino-san is," the receptionist said, "I can call her on the PA, if that's okay."

Dia, after hearing this, shook herself and remembered what Maki told her. "I apologize, it's fine." She bowed to the receptionist and started to walk back to Riko's room. She shakily dialed Maki's number, still in shock from seeing Riko wake up. _'Maki-san said that she would be awake soon. It's just…this soon?'_ She put the phone to her ear and waited for Maki to respond. After hearing the message that she was busy, Dia took a seat outside of the room. _'She has to be tending to a patient. I'm surprised she didn't respond. She told me to call her only when there was an emergency. It's weird-'_

 _ **RING!**_

Dia almost dropped her phone as it rang, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Hello?"

"Dia? What happened with Riko? I was with a patient, I apologize."

"It's okay, Maki-san."

"Now, how bad is Riko's condition? I thought that she would be fine. I'm rushing over there now."

"Maki-san. Riko is doing good. Great, actually."

"Now you aren't making sense. I told you to call for emergencies only."

"This may count."

"What?"

"Riko woke up."

"…"

"Umm, Maki-san?" Dia asked. It was nearly a minute of silence from both sides. However, Dia was just waiting for a response.

"…Do you know when your other friends are coming?"

' _That's a weird question…'_ Dia thought. Kanan was still outside, so she asked her friend when Chika and the others were coming. "Kanan said that Riko's mother and the three other girls are coming today. Is there any reason why you need to know?"

"…You guys talk to her first."

"I think she would want to see you. You were her doctor, and she probably wants to talk to you."

"I can't, at least not right now."

"Maki-san, I thought we went through this. You have to be confident."

"I know, Dia. I'm not afraid to talk to her…well, I am a bit. I just want to collect my thoughts. I can't mess this up."

Dia sighed a breath of relief. "I guess that's fair. If you need to talk, call me. Or Eli-san."

"Yeah, I will. Go be with Riko. She would want to be with her friends."

"Okay. Take care, Maki-san."

"Bye."

…

"RIKO-CHAN!" Chika wailed as she rushed into her friend's hospital room. She hugged the red-head gently, but buried her head in the crook of Riko's neck. "I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE OKAY!"

"Me too," Riko said. Dia was about to scold Chika for being too rough with the red-head in her state, but Riko put a hand up to stop her. "It's nice to see you, Chika-chan."

Chika was a babbling mess, and all she could do was rub her cheek against Riko's neck.

"Oh god. Riko, you're okay." Her mother came over to the bed and hugged her daughter, while also giving her a kiss on the forehead. "I'm happy that you're awake."

"I am too. I love you, mom."

"I love you too, sweetie."

The rest of the day was filled with Riko getting told about what has happened with everyone while she was in the coma. It was nice to be with her friends for real, and to not be a potato. As the excitement of Riko being awake died down, Dia suggested that they let Riko have some rest. She has been sleeping for quite a while, but she told everyone that they could meet up with her tomorrow, since it was the weekend. The whole room agreed and said their goodbyes to the girl.

As the eight other girls shuffled out of the room, Riko's mother was beside her daughter.

"So, are you feeling okay?" The mother asked.

"I could be better. I'm happy that I didn't miss any classes. I still feel some pain; I'll manage, though. Thanks for being with me, mom."

Riko's mother smiled. "I'll do anything I could do for my little girl. Even drive back home to pick up Chika, You, and Yoshiko."

The two giggled as the other girls watched the mother/daughter interaction. They 'awwed' before heading out of the room.

Mari was holding Dia's hands while Kanan was beside the couple, but the black-haired girl stopped when she felt a pair of hands ono her shoulders. Turning around, she saw a sheepish looking Maki. "Maki-san?"

"If it's okay with you, could you come with me when I talk to Riko?" She nervously asked.

"Huh? Me?" Dia confusedly said.

"I think you might be able to help me if things go wrong."

Mari and Kanan had a mutual understanding. They were going to go out and venture through Akihabara. However, they both understood that Maki was worried about her relationship with Riko.

"Dia, you can go with Maki-san," Mari said.

"We can go out some other time. We'll still be here over the weekend." Kanan reasoned.

Maki breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for under-"

"No. I won't go with you, Maki-san," Dia sternly said.

"Wh-What?" Maki was surprised that Dia firmly shut her down, and was preparing to go tell her off.

"This is **your** problem to figure out with Riko. And it's Riko's problem to figure out with **you**." Dia kept poking Maki's chest, but the words were poking Maki's heart. "If you want to figure out what went wrong, you need to do it by yourselves. I'm not going to be there all the time. No one will be. Have some damn confidence in yourself and talk it out. You do this, and you'll be okay."

Maki couldn't believe that she had to be told that twice by the same person. _'What's wrong with me? I have to do this myself!'_ She was wrapped in an embrace from Dia, which she happily accepted. "You can do this. Be the Maki-san that Riko fell in love with."

"Right…Right!" Maki nervously, but proudly said. "I…I need to talk with her alone! I need to tell her everything!"

"Now go. Tell her everything. And…good luck, Maki-san," Dia told her senior.

"Thanks. Sorry to hold you up!" Maki said as she went into the hospital room.

"You really know how to encourage someone, Dia," Kanan commented.

"Good to hear," the black-haired girl said proudly.

"Now, let's **EAT!** " Mari said excitedly.


	13. Chapter 12

"Riko?" Maki said as she went into the room. Upon seeing Riko and her mother, she turned around. "Sorry. I'll let you have your time together."

Before she could take a step away, she felt a hand on her shoulder. It turned her around and Maki's eyes met with Mrs. Sakurauchi's. "We've had enough time." Leaning over so she was beside Maki's ear, Riko's mother whispered, "You need to talk to each other." She kissed Riko's forehead and said her goodbyes, leaving the two red-heads in an awkward silence.

"Hi," was all Riko could manage to say.

"Hi." Maki started to walk over to the chair she has been sitting at for a while, which was right beside Riko's bed. "Glad to see your awake now."

"I am too," Riko faintly smiled. "I had a lot of fun just talking with everyone again. It would be nice to talk to Eli-san, Nozomi-san, or Arisa-san again."

"I can make that happen," Maki said with a small laugh.

The small talk soon devolved into another tense silence. They knew that they had to talk about their situation. They just couldn't think of a way to bring it up.

"I…just wanted to check up on you. See how well you were recovering. We'll talk later since it's getting late." Maki stood up and started to take her leave.

"That's fine." All Riko could do was pull up her covers and try to relax, covering up her growing blush.

As Maki was about to leave, she got a text from Dia.

Dia:  
 _Riko's mother told us that you two are alone  
You better talk  
You need to get this figured out now_

' _How the hell did she actually see us?'_ Maki thought to herself, looking outside the door thinking that Dia would actually be there. _'No, she's right. I won't be able to sleep if I can't get my feelings off of my chest.'_

Turning back, she saw Riko 'sleeping' in her bed. She might have fell for it if not for the rapid heartbeats on the monitor. Riko would have a steady heartbeat if she was actually sleeping.

"Hey, stop pretending," Maki said as she lightly nudged Riko. Revealing herself from the covers, the younger girl had a dark blush. "Do you have a fever?" Maki said jokingly after feeling Riko's forehead. That action caused Riko's heartbeat to go faster (according to the monitor).

"I-I'm fine." Riko slowly sat up in the bed with some assistance from Maki. "I've just been thinking about a lot of things."

"Are one of those things how we are right now?" Maki asked, already knowing the answer.

"…Of course it is," Riko mumbled.

Maki sighed. "I was about to be a coward and keep putting this off. But, Dia convinced me that…" Maki took a seat and held Riko's free hand. "…We need to talk, Riko."

Riko hung her head. "I know."

Maki tried to give some sort of assurance that it would be okay by rubbing small circles on Riko's hand with her thumb. She was thinking that it would be futile, but it was the only thing that she could do. Their talk would be changing a lot of things between them.

"Do you want to start?" Maki asked. She felt Riko's entire body trembling from just holding her hand, and the girl's head shaking was more than enough for her to know that Riko wasn't in any state to talk. "Alright, that's fine. I'll just say what I need to say. Stop me whenever, okay?" When she saw the girl nod, Maki took a deep breath before she started to talk.

"When we were together at the start, it was euphoric. You are someone who is so lovely, charming, pretty, talented, smart…just everything. Being around you made me the happiest girl in the world. But, we struggled. Real hard.

"There's no doubt that I've wanted to go to your concert. After hearing the song from Dia, it made me all the more guilty. And that's what makes me hate how we ended things. Our relationship was so short, and we've only grew apart during that time, I feel. So, maybe that…that was the final straw.

"And it makes me hate myself. Everyone has been saying that we're both at fault. And to an extent, I can agree. But…I'm always going to think that it was entirely my fault. I could have pushed it back. I could have done anything; I'm the owner of the hospital, damn it! I don't know why I didn't do it…and I hate myself for it.

"But like I said, people say that you're also to blame. I can see it, but it's so small compared to my mess-up. You trusted me too much. Like, what is that compared to me missing your concert when I had all the power to do so?

"I love you, Riko. Everyone says that you love me, but I don't know how you could love someone so horrible. I'm done with being awful. I'm not looking to be your girlfriend right now. All I want is to be a friend. A friend that won't hurt you again. A friend who you can trust."

Maki's tears were flowing from her eyes, but looking at Riko, she was a quivering mess. "Hey, I'm the one who's supposed to be crying hard," Maki softly said.

"That's all wrong, Maki-chan," Riko said in a soft whisper.

"What?"

"You're wrong, Maki-chan!" Riko stared into Maki's violet eyes. "I don't want to be friends, Maki-chan!"

"Y-You don't…want to?" Maki's heart started to break. _'I'm not even putting myself out there, and she doesn't want to be friends?'_

"We can't be friends, Maki-chan!" Riko gripped Maki's coat tightly. "We can't…because I love you…too much…"

Maki confusedly looked at Riko. "Y-You still l-love me?" The doctor asked quietly. Riko nodded in response. She also lightly chuckled. "W-What's so funny?"

"Your words…they reminded me of some thoughts I had. I think I listened in to some of the talks everyone had."

"W-What? Is that possible?" Maki stuttered in disbelief. "Uh…tell me some things you remember, I guess. I'm not really believing you right now."

Riko lightly laughed. "Of course. I'll say whatever feels relevant." Maki nodded.

"My mother told me that I trust people too much. And I think I trusted you too much. Maybe that's why I wanted you there, at the concert. Those promises…maybe they were stupid."

Maki gripped Riko's hands tightly. "No! They were not stupid! I said that in the heat of the moment, and it was wrong to say. It made me realize that I have to be able to put things first. Sure, I have to be a doctor first when there's an emergency. But, I have times when I can be selfish and put other things first…Like you." She said the last part very quietly, but Riko heard it. It made Riko's heart flutter.

"Maki-chan, get closer," Riko asked. The older girl nodded and started to move her chair until it was touching the bed. Riko sighed, not feeling content with this position. "Can you get on the bed with me?"

Immediately, the older girl blushed furiously. They've kissed before, but they never went that far. Even if it was just for talking, Maki's heart was pounding faster than before. "A-Are you s-sure?! I-I could just s-stay here!"

The flustered expression was making Riko laugh. "It's okay, Maki-chan. It makes us closer, which…I'm okay with. And it helps us talk better." The girl in the bed shuffled over and patted the empty space. "Don't be shy; Dia-san said not to."

Now, Maki was blushing from Riko's retort. "So…you heard that, huh?"

"Yeah…Dia-san has always been good at observing emotions, despite how much of a dork she is," Riko said as the doctor was seated on the bed. They were holding hands as if nothing happened, and Riko leaned her head on Maki's shoulder. This felt natural, and Riko knew that it was a mistake to break up with Maki over such a small thing. "I remember your 'argument' that you had with her. She really played…well, everyone."

Maki sighed as she remembered that day. "Yeah…Dia is pretty brave. And she is good at talking to people. She's kind of like Eli, funnily enough. Former student council pres, good at talking to people and helping out with their problems. Anything else you remember?"

"I remember hearing 'nya' when someone said that you…didn't want to hurt me again. That would be Rin-san, correct?"

Maki tensed up a bit, but relaxed after Riko looked at her with reassuring eyes. "Yes, that was Rin. She was totally right. I hated that I hurt you."

"But," Riko said, interrupting Maki, "I hurt you as well. They were right, I put so much faith and trust into you. And when we broke up, it hurt you as much as it hurt me." Riko pecked Maki's cheek, surprising the older girl. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan."

She hesitated, but Maki went and kissed the top of Riko's head. "It's okay. I needed to apologize too. I'm sorry." She heard sniffles from her side, and wrapped and arm around the girl. "We're okay now, Riko."

"I-I know…it's just…I love you so much…and I want to date again…" Riko struggled to say through her sobs.

"Hey, don't cry." Maki turned the younger girl's head over to see the overflowing tears pouring out of Riko's eyes. "There's nothing I would love more than to be your girlfriend again. Stop crying."

Despite the innocent pleas, the younger girl kept crying. "I'm…just so happy! I regret our break-up. It was so stupid…"

"It wasn't stupid. I listened to your song, and I could tell that I regret ever driving away from you." Maki hugged Riko tighter, wanting to never let this embrace end. It was a month of regret and love, from both girls.

Maki was also feeling a bit passionate during the month. She missed Riko's sweet kisses, her warm feeling, her beautiful voice, everything.

The tears were starting to let up, and there was just a few on Riko's face. Maki wiped away Riko's tears with her lips, planting kisses on any spot that had a tear. It had the saltiness, but a faint sweetness that was Riko.

"Maki-chan…" Riko said, giggling at the ticklish way she was getting kissed.

Riko's tears led Maki to Riko's soft and beautiful lips. She took a quick peck at them, which got a surprised smile from her girlfriend. "Was that okay to do?" Maki asked.

"We're dating again, right?" Riko teased. What Maki didn't expect was Riko to give her a passionate French kiss. Their tongues played with each other, and both savoured each other's taste.

All they could think was that this was right. They were meant to be together.

Riko felt a hand grope her chest, which made her pull away. A strand of saliva was between them, and they were panting heavily. "Maki-chan…I still need to recover…"

Maki was wondering what Riko meant. When she saw where her hand was grabbing, she instantly blushed and turned away. "S-Sorry…"

Riko giggled at Maki's shyness. "It's okay," she said as she wrapped her free arm around Maki's and rested her head on Maki's shoulder. "I can't be happier right now."

Maki rested her head on Riko's, the scent of her girlfriend making her feel relaxed. "Me either."

There was a comforting silence that shrouded the two of them, the only noise was the wind stirring outside of the open window.

"I hate to bring this up," Maki said, breaking the silence, "But…we need to talk about how what went wrong. I don't want to lose you again," Maki said, the sincerity pouring out from her voice.

"Me neither," Riko replied, "Dia-san and Chika-chan said something like that, from what I remembered."

"Yeah, they did." Maki said as she snuggled her head closer to Riko's. "You need to know that I can't be trusted. At least, to the extent that you did." Riko nodded. "I'll do my hardest to be there for you. I'll remember that if anything that could be pushed back would interfere with something between us, I'll actually push it back." Maki saw the smile form on her girlfriend's lips. "But, I can't make promises."

"Huh? No promises?" Riko sounded heartbroken.

"I know that it's important to you. I said it wrong; let me fix that." Maki gripped Riko's hand tighter. "I'll only make promises that I know I can keep. If I break another promise, I don't know how I could live with myself."

"Oh." Riko was still saddened from hearing this, but Maki made a fair point. Riko didn't want to invest too much into Maki, and not use her as a reliance.

"I'm happy that I kept one promise, though."

"What was it?"

Maki smiled. "I promised your mom that you would be okay after the accident."

Riko lightly laughed. She went and kissed Maki's cheek. "Thanks for sticking with that one."

"It sounds like you're making fun of me. I already said I'm sorry for missing the concert and recital."

Riko sighed at Maki's 'joke.' "You know, I'm trying to make the atmosphere lighter after that heavy talk."

"I know, I know," Maki said.

"Can you promise me one thing right now?" Riko asked.

"Uh…maybe?" Maki said hesitantly. After that whole talk with not being able to keep so many promises, this would be pretty big.

Riko smiled. "Stay with me for the night."

Maki smiled back. "That's a promise I can keep."

And the two girls fell asleep to the gentle breeze and their girlfriend's steady breathing.

* * *

"Riko-chan? Are you awake?" Chika poked her head into the doorway. She wanted to be with her friend since Riko woke up, so she went to the hospital early. She also came with Dia, Mari, and Kanan. They even met up with Eli and Nozomi, who heard the news about Riko's awakening from Dia.

"She's probably sleeping. We can just wait here until she's awake," Eli bargained with the girl.

"Aww, we have to wait for her to wake up again?!" Chika groaned. Everyone laughed at Chika's impatience.

The six girls went in and found some seats. They set it up further from Riko's bed, so they couldn't see what was behind the curtain. Dia decided to poke her head, and smiled at the heartwarming sight.

Riko and Maki lying in the bed together. Hands intertwined, heads leaning on each other.

"What's up, Dia?" Eli asked. The black-haired girl pointed to the bed, and Eli felt her smile creep up to her face. "I see."

Maki started to stir from her sleep. Opening her eyes, she saw the warm smiles of Dia and Eli looking at her. Soon, the four others went behind the curtain and also smiled at the couple in bed.

"So, everything went well?" Dia asked, already knowing the answer.

Maki looked to her side to see her sleeping beauty. "Very."


	14. Epilogue

"Eli-san!" Chika called out from across the auditorium lobby. As the blonde turned around, she was met with a wide smile from the Aqours leader.

She smiled back. "Hello, Chika. How are you guys?"

"We're great!" She exclaimed. The rest of Aqours was behind her, somewhat jogging to them.

"Goodness, Chika. You really shouldn't be yelling in here," Dia scolded her. "People will start to stare."

"Sorry, Dia-san. I was just excited to see Muse again."

"It hasn't been that long."

"It's been nearly two months, Dia-chan," Nozomi chimed in. "And some of us haven't even met before."

Dia looked at the purple-haired girl confusedly, but as instantly started to panic when she saw four people coming from the crowd.

"You've only met Eli, Nozomi, Rin, and Umi. And you forget about the rest of us?" A high-pitched, sarcastic voice said. The 'super idol' Nico came from behind Nozomi with Honoka (and their respective girlfriends), Hanayo, and Kotori around her. "How could you call yourself a fan?"

Instead of retorting back at the insult, Dia was stood still. She was absorbing the fact that she was meeting the rest of Muse. Not only Dia, but so was Chika and Mari.

Honoka jumped in front of the frozen girls and started to greet herself. "We've heard a lot about you from both your times as school idols and from everyone here! It's nice to meet you now!" She put out a hand, but the three girls just stared at it. Chika was put into a trance when she saw it, from what the older orange-haired girl saw. "Eli-chan and Umi-chan told me a lot about you! It's nice to see that I still have fans."

"I-I…uh…eh…hehe…" Chika was turned into a babbling mess from being able to meet her idol from Muse in person. She hesitantly shook Honoka's hand, which made the older girl laugh.

"Honoka-san!" Ruby called out as she and Hanamaru started to walk over to them. She tackled the orange-haired girl into a hug. "You and Nico-san are back? I thought you had some more dates for your tour."

Nico sighed as she walked over to the two. "I can't believe you didn't correct it yet."

"You could have done it too, Nico-chan!" Honoka retorted back, sticking her tongue out. "You are more responsible for emails and stuff like that."

Nico grumbled as Honoka smirked from defeating Nico (again). "Whatever. We put in the wrong dates when we were messaging you. We actually were three days early from what we sent you. My bad," Nico said as Honoka glared at her.

"That's great, zura! We have to talk soon!" Hanamaru gleefully said, earning a nod from Honoka and Nico.

"R-Ruby! H-Hugging Honoka-s-san!" Dia stuttered out. She was in disbelief that those two were so close that they could be hugging. Mari could only watch with her mouth agape, also wondering how close the two were.

They were taken out of their trance by Kanan, who slapped their shoulders with her hands. "Stop being dummies, you dorks. Hanamaru and Ruby told us that they've met everyone. Except maybe Kotori-san and Hanayo-san."

As their names were said, the couple came over. "Hello everyone," Kotori greeted everyone. "It's nice to meet you all."

"Hello, Hanayo-san!" Ruby said. "I'm excited that I get to meet my favourite Muse member!"

The brunette softly giggled. "Hello, Ruby-chan. I'm also a fan of yours."

"R-Really? That's really cool!" Ruby gleefully responded.

You and Yoshiko were behind them, and the girls soon went into groups to talk. They started to pile into the auditorium, with the girls splitting up into their groups.

Yoshiko, Rin, and Nico were together. Nico talked about her tour, which led to a talk about video games. Since Nico and Rin weren't together, the two of them kept their bond by playing cooperative games. They sometimes played competitive games, such as Street Fighter. As such, Yoshiko chimed in as she had something to talk about (she was a fan of idols since she was one, but it wasn't something that she could talk **that** much about). Learning about Yoshiko's job, Nico engaged herself into the world of tournaments, as did Rin.

You overheard the two couples (Hanamaru, Ruby, Kotori, and Hanayo) talking about fashion. She was surprised to hear that as she only knew about Ruby's designing for Hanamaru's idol career. She was even more surprised to hear that Kotori and Hanayo were starting up their own fashion line. Despite being a swimmer, You found herself engrossed in the stylish conversation.

Kanan, Umi, and Honoka were talking about how their jobs were. Despite it sounding boring, they all had very interesting jobs. Kanan loved talking about the idol world with Honoka, Umi was interested about the business that Kanan was in charge of, and Honoka loved to hear what happened in the dojo. There was also some light kissing, which made Umi blush deeply and made Honoka and Kanan laugh.

Nozomi and Mari were talking, still having mischievous talks. At least, according to their girlfriends

"They're talking again, huh?" Eli said.

"I guess so," Dia replied. "To be fair, we are too."

"Touché," Eli lightly laughed. "Actually, do you know anything about this?"

"Hmm, not really. All I saw was an invitation from Riko. I know she recovered fast, but to already be performing again? I'm surprised that she could be doing this."

Eli nodded. "Same here. I thought that Maki would be caring for Riko. I guess she took care of her well enough. What are they doing anyways?"

"Whatever it is, Riko wanted me to record it." Dia pulled out her phone, which still had Riko's saved performance from the fateful day. "I'll only record Riko's part."

"I guess I'll record Maki's." Eli said as she pulled out her phone.

The concert started, and the compositions were delightful. Everyone in the auditorium were into every performance and watched with awe.

"Now, we have something special for the final performance," the emcee said. Eli and Dia both sighed a breath of relief.

"I guess that they're going last," Eli whispered.

"Yeah…my arms were getting tired," Dia quietly whined.

"We have an established college performer playing with a highly accomplished doctor. Please welcome Nishikino Maki and Sakurauchi Riko, performing the duet _A Red-Hot Love._ " The emcee walked off and the two girls were walking out to the sound of huge applause.

Eli and Dia started smiling wide. _'This is…so nice,'_ they both thought about their two friends.

Once the two started playing, it was the familiar fast-paced, happy sounding song that they heard before. It just sounded…better. The happy tone of the song was amplified, and the girls knew that it was because of the connection Riko and Maki shared. Their bond was deepened after everything went wrong, and they knew that it made them stronger as a pair.

They were drawn to the solos the two of them had. To have that much trust in each other to do a solo…they were meant for each other.

Once they were finished, there was thunderous applause from the entire venue. The two held hands as they thanked the crowd, a strong blush on both of their faces from playing their hearts out and for being by each other.

* * *

 **And finished...**

 **I hope that this epilogue is good enough for you readers. I wanted a feel good ending (mostly because I had this planned while I wrote this story). I feel that I keep saying this, but this was one of my favourite things to write. I love the red-headed, piano playing duo of Riko and Maki. To be honest, with All Stars coming out would make the story a bit too easy since they would all be the same age. So, I am very happy with how this turned out.**

 **Please leave reviews that (hopefully) say why you liked the story (if you did. If you didn't, please leave that in the review as well).**

 **Thanks for Reading!**


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